The Bug
1
“There’s a bug inside you.”
“Growing in you, eating everything you’ve forced yourself to forget, everything you don’t want to think about.”
“Your bug will decide your fate one day.”
“And…chances are, you will die because of it.”
“…………”
For some reason, those words came floating back into his mind.
Mo Murder had killed the boy who spoke those words several years before. The boy had a unique ability to awaken hidden talent in other people. He had been declared dangerous, an enemy of modern society. The boy said those words to him as he lay dying.
“What did you say?” the girl sitting across from him asked, frowning. She appeared to be about eighteen. She was probably not really a girl, but she looked like one.
“No…nothing,” he said, shaking his head. He was wearing an ordinary suit and silver-rimmed spectacles. To anyone around him, he must have looked like an ordinary salaryman.
They were sitting in a booth in a donut shop, surrounded by high school girls and child-toting parents on their way home from shopping.
There were photographs spread out on the table between them. Well, technically they weren’t photographs but copies—printouts.
All of them featured strange images. They were pictures of human figures lying on their side, limbs flung out like they were dancing, their mouths open wider than their heads. Looking at them led him to make the macabre discovery that human skin could stretch farther than he had previously imagined. He’d seen similar imagery in The Mask, but this was no movie—these were pictures of real people.
They were corpses. On each one, the skull had been pried apart and the contents of the victim’s head removed.
“…gross,” Mo Murder said.
The girl laughed. “You’re one to speak, assassin.” He detected a hint of malice, or at least aggression, in her voice.
“…………”
Mo Murder ignored it, looking the pictures over again. He had killed enough people that he probably didn’t have the right to judge the violent acts of another. Even so, this particular method of killing felt wrong to him. The wrongness seeped into the depths of his heart…
Is that why I’m thinking about what that boy said…?
The more he tried to avoid thinking about it, the more prominent the feeling would become, until it finally killed him…a chilling prophecy. He’d put it out of his mind until now.
“So? Any ideas? Why would someone kill like that? You’re a killer too, you must know something,” the girl said, trying to wind him up.
“No,” Mo Murder said, honestly.
“What a shame. Well, this is your new job. Figure out why they’re killing like this and kill the murderer if you must. You’re quite familiar with ending others’ lives, so this should be easy for you,” the girl snapped. She clearly didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
It was starting to bother him.
“Pigeon, was it? You seem a little…emotional,” he pointed out.
She scowled furiously back at him. “A killing machine has no right to criticize,” she said, as though she were looking at a mortal enemy.
“I understand that you do not care for assassinations, but your duties include providing backup for that kind of activity,” Mo Murder said calmly.
Despite the nature of their conversation, all around them they could hear high school girls laughing and chatting. Nobody paid them any attention, so their discussion went unnoticed.
“…………”
Pigeon glared at Mo Murder, and he met her gaze with silence.
At last she looked away. “…let’s talk about work.”
“Very well.”
This series of gruesome murders had been all over the news lately. The victims were all females in their late teens, and the method of murder—prying the skull open while the victim was still alive and removing the contents—was so bizarre that the Towa Organization had suspected there was a reason for it that was beyond mankind’s current capacity to understand. Thus they had ordered an investigation. Since it related to murder, they had assigned the mission to an expert on the subject—Mo Murder.
Pigeon was a messenger, carrying orders to the agents scattered around the area. She had brought him his orders, along with all of the information the Organization had gathered so far.
“I think I understand what I’m supposed to do. I’ll start work at once,” Mo Murder said, closing the file, and handing it back to her. He had memorized the contents.
She took it glumly. It would soon be destroyed.
“Where will you start?” she asked, not looking at him.
“I thought I’d begin by looking at the crime scenes. I want to figure out how they died. I want to figure out what the killer was after.”
“The police did that ages ago. You won’t find anything.”
“There might be something that links them together, something the police overlooked. I think this killer is clearly acting with a goal in mind.”
“…You sound pretty sure about that. So you’ll check out the scenes, then?”
“Exactly.”
Mo Murder stood up and headed out of the shop.
“Hmph…” Pigeon watched him leave through her lashes. There was a hidden, almost snake-like darkness in her eyes.
***
Mo Murder’s human name was Sasaki Masanori. Officially he worked in the sales department of a major food manufacturer. If anyone were to call his company (not that anyone ever would), they would reply, “Sasaki is out at the moment.” He’d never even been to the place. It was unlikely he ever would.
As a synthetic human, he had the ability to release micro-oscillating waves from the palms of his hands. He could use this talent to agitate a human’s organs into pulp or make a knife vibrate like a chainsaw. The only thing he couldn’t cut through was armor specially designed to resist his attack. Such armor had once defeated his ability.
Even without the use of his power, he had managed to kill his target—a traitor to the organization named Scarecrow. Mo Murder’s true ability was not his weapon, but rather his finely honed killer instincts.
“…………”
Mo Murder was investigating one of the murder scenes.
It was an ordinary park in a residential area with one slide, four swings, a sandbox, and a seesaw. Over to the side, against the hedge, was a small bench that could maybe seat four.
The first victim had been found dissected on that bench in the evening, after the schools had released their students.
“…………”
Mo Murder sat down on the solitary bench. For a short period of time, the place had been crawling with reporters and rubberneckers, but that murder had occurred a month ago. Today, he was alone. The police investigation had long since wrapped up.
Mo Murder looked around. There was nothing particularly worthy of attention about the site. There were no nearby tall buildings—just a bunch of similarly-sized houses. There was no apartment building where someone might conceivably have been watching through binoculars.
The park was on a little hill just high enough that the scene of the crime was not visible from the road. However, there wasn’t a fence around it, so anyone cutting through the park would have seen something. If the victim had screamed, it would have drawn attention.
Which meant…the murder happened so fast she never had time to scream. But…
The murder seemed to be too impulsive for such technique or power.
Considering the state of the body, this should have been more calculated, deliberate…but it seemed like she had been attacked without hesitation.
It was just a coincidence that no one saw them…I’m sure of that. But then, that would mean this was more like…
“A carnivorous animal out hunting?” someone said.
He looked up in surprise and saw a girl standing there.
When he saw her face, Mo Murder gawked. It was Kirima Nagi—the daughter of one of the men he’d killed.
“Y-you’re…”
“Why are you investigating this?” she asked, ignoring his evident shock.
“I-Investigating? No, you must be mistaken. I’m not…”
“That’s a lie,” Nagi said, firmly.
She was wearing a jumpsuit made of synthetic leather, and he could not tell how old she was. Though he knew she should only be about fourteen, she looked like she was at least eighteen, and a rather grown-up eighteen at that.
“Snooping carefully around the scene of a crime, sitting down on the bench and looking to see if there are any tall buildings around, and then muttering to yourself as you try to imagine the killer’s state of mind… if you aren’t investigating, just what the hell are you doing? Hmm?”
He noticed belatedly that she was using very masculine speech patterns.
At the same time, he realized she had sensibilities rather like his own. She was just as perceptive as he was. The only difference between them was that he would not have spoken to someone else. Assassins never did. The only people who did that were “warriors”—people who needed to size up their enemies.
“…What does my investigation have to do with you?” he said. He already knew the answer.
And she knew that he knew. Nagi grinned. “Obviously, it relates to me because I’m investigating, too.”
She was so fearless he could hardly believe she was only fourteen.
Seeing her like this, Mo Murder found himself feeling relieved. Very relieved, indeed.
I’m glad I didn’t kill her…
He was surprised to hear that thought cross his mind. Quickly, he said, “I’ve seen you before. I remember your face.” He tried to get his emotions under control.
“Yeah, my dad was a famous writer. When he died there were pictures of me in lots of magazines,” Nagi said, snorting.
***
“Well…you’re right, I was investigating.” He handed her his card. “I don’t know…I just felt like I might be able to understand what was happening here,” Mo Murder said. Nagi was sitting next to him now. He was, of course, lying—after all, he could hardly tell the truth.
“An ordinary salaryman?” Nagi said, looking dubiously at Sasaki Masanori’s card.
“I know, I know. It was just a feeling, and I couldn’t shake it. I felt like I might have something in common with the killer…which sounds creepy, but I couldn’t shake the thought.”
Mo Murder was using an advanced confidence trick. By explaining something that could not be explained, the flaws in his reasoning sorted themselves out. He knew from the start that Nagi would hardly accept any normal excuse.
“…………”
Nagi looked up from his card and stared at Mo Murder. Glared at him. Those were not the eyes of a child.
“…And you?” Mo Murder asked. “Why are you investigating?”
“I’m bored,” Nagi said.
“Bored?”
“I’m not in school, so I’ve got nothing else to do but hang around at home. That’s all.”
“Why aren’t you in school?”
“I was sick. Missed most of the year, so they won’t let me back ’til April. I’m on a leave of absence.”
“Oh…” Mo Murder nodded, accepting her explanation. “I see.”
“Okay, Sasaki-san,” Nagi said, standing up. “What say we investigate together?”
“Eh?”
“You can’t exactly charge this to your expense account, can you? But I happen to be rich,” Nagi said calmly, nothing forced about her manner at all.
“…………”
He couldn’t think of a reason to say no.
***
That’s Kirima Nagi. Why is he with her?
Five hundred meters away from Kirima, a figure was sitting in a car parked in a position where she could only barely see the park through the gaps in the houses.
But this figure—Kisugi Makiko, a doctor working at a nearby general hospital—did not have any binoculars. With her naked eye alone, she could make out every detail of every expression of the two figures hundreds of meters away.
She had come here following the man who called himself Sasaki Masanori. On the way she had realized he was headed for the scene of the first murder, so she’d gone ahead of him to find a place where she could watch from a distance.
Of course, she was already well aware that Sasaki Masanori was her enemy—her information network extended into the Towa Organization itself.
But Nagi’s presence surprised her. She didn’t think there was any connection between the two of them. Considering how strong that girl’s sense of justice was, she might be here on her own.
Nagi-chan…what are you playing at?
She remembered counseling Nagi when she’d been staying at the hospital. No matter how much it hurt, that gleam in her eyes never faded. Yes, that girl might well have the strength Makiko’s taste demanded.
Do you want me to taste you, then, Nagi-chan…?
A diabolical smile slid over the lips of the monster now known as the Fear Ghoul.
2
Three years had passed since Mo Murder killed Kirima Seiichi.
It had been an easy job.
Kirima Seiichi spent most of his time at home alone, working, so all Mo Murder had to do was sneak into the house, move silently up behind him as he worked, press his palm against Seiichi’s back, and send a shock wave into his internal organs.
Kirima Seiichi fell over at once, leaving his partially written manuscript on the table.
And just as Mo Murder was about to finish him off, he heard a key turn in the front door with a loud click.
His data had mentioned a daughter, but she should’ve been at school. For some reason, she had come home early.
“———!”
For an instant, Mo Murder debated killing her, too. But…
“I-If my daughter…dies too…the news will explode. You don’t…want that.”
He turned around at the voice, and saw Kirima Seiichi glaring up at him, dying in horrible pain.
“………”
His strength of spirit took Mo Murder by surprise. Even more surprising was the fact that the man was right.
“You knew?”
He was prepared to die?
“———”
Kirima Seiichi just glared up at him. For another moment, Mo debated whether or not he should finish him off.
But then a bright voice echoed through the house. He didn’t have time.
Mo Murder hid himself in the library, next door to the study. He heard footsteps on the stairs.
And then she spoke. “I told them I was sick and came home early!” The daughter, Kirima Nagi, then in the fourth grade, opened the door.
She screamed. A large portion of the room was covered in the blood Kirima Seiichi was coughing up.
Nagi ran over to him.
“…………”
Mo Murder watched closely from the next room. He was ready to jump in at any moment.
Kirima Seiichi grabbed his daughter’s hand.
“Nagi…what do you think being normal means?” He babbled a few more things that made no sense to Mo Murder and then passed out. He never woke up again.
He didn’t once mention the Towa Organization or that he had been assassinated.
Nagi ran to the phone to call an ambulance.
Mo Murder slipped out, leaving as unobtrusively as he had entered. As he walked away, he could hear the commotion starting.
If Kirima Seiichi had said so much as a word about him to his daughter, or even told her to run, he would have killed Nagi, too. But that had not happened.
That man had conquered his own fear of death, protecting his daughter to the bitter end.
Mo Murder had his orders and did not feel any remorse over killing him…but he secretly respected the man’s strength of will.
And now, Nagi, spared by the flow of events, stood before him again.
Like some twist of fate…
What else could he think?
“Um, Kirima-san?” he said.
Nagi was on all fours, inspecting the ground. She looked up at his voice. “What?”
They were at the second scene now. The body had been found in a heap below a bridge, cars zipping by on the road overhead.
Unlike the first scene, where only luck had kept the murderer and the victim from being seen, this place was almost always deserted.
Nagi had paid for a cab to bring them as close to the site as possible. They had walked the rest of the way.
“I don’t think there’s any evidence left. The police must’ve collected all of it. That’s why the crime scene tape was gone.”
Nagi didn’t answer. Instead, she looked around her, muttering, “What could it be?”
“What?”
“Sasaki-san, you can imagine the killer’s state of mind, right? This place is nothing like the first one, but can you sense anything it has in common?”
“Well…” Mo Murder said, looking around. What Nagi was doing was exactly the same thing he had been planning on doing.
“This place seems like a much better choice than the last one…”
“Yes. But why?”
“Why what?”
“The murder itself was exactly the same. Why would they do exactly the same thing first in a place where they might be seen and then in a place where they can take their time?”
“…………”
Mo Murder fell silent. That was exactly what he had been thinking.
“Why do you think?” Nagi asked again, standing up and turning toward him.
“…The killer just didn’t care?”
“Didn’t care if someone saw him?” Nagi asked, looking right at him. “You mean he paid no attention to who was around?”
“Maybe he thinks he’s a god? That he’s untouchable. Still, he seems to have rather advanced medical knowledge to believe something that crazy. This killer is very well-educated, like a doctor. Then again, it’s not as though elitism hasn’t produced some distorted ways of thinking.”
“What about you, Sasaki-san? If you had a reason to extract the contents of someone’s skull, would you care if someone saw you?”
“Mmm…” he started to think about it, and then it hit him. Nagi was glaring at him. Mo Murder finally realized what she was driving at.
She suspected him, too. She was interrogating him.
Her reasoning might’ve been based on the notion that the killer always returned to the scene of the crime, but either way, she clearly suspected that Mo Murder might well be a killer himself. And she was bringing him with her. Watching him, to see if he would slip up.
“…I doubt it. I said earlier that I might understand, but if it were me, I’d hide the body somewhere and take my time. I’d be afraid of getting noticed. Afraid of the trouble that would cause.”
He answered honestly.
“Afraid…?” Nagi whispered, looking away. “Afraid…” she said, looking around. “The killer wasn’t afraid at all, you mean? Not…afraid. Not scared. No fear. Fear? Where have I heard that before…?”
She was muttering to herself now. She folded her arms, thinking hard.
“Are you on to something?” Mo Murder asked.
But she shook her head. “…Nah. Next one?”
***
The third scene was in a back alley and was still sealed off. Police were everywhere. Two weeks had passed since the murder, but the investigation did not appear to be getting anywhere.
“…Guess we can’t get in,” Mo Murder said, watching them from a distance.
“…Sasaki-san,” Nagi said suddenly. “You ever pick up a girl?”
“Huh?”
“You know, start flirting with a complete stranger.”
“N-no, not…never.”
“There’s a first time for everything. See that girl standing over there? Talk to her,” Nagi said, pointing at a high school girl standing perfectly still outside the police blockade.
“What about?”
“Just do it. Tell her you want to talk, bring her this way.”
“…Huh.” He didn’t know what she was up to, but Mo Murder did as Nagi asked and went over to the girl. “Um, are you…?”
The girl jumped and spun around.
“Wh-what?!”
“No, I…” Mo Murder stammered. She looked like a frightened rabbit, and he had no idea what to say to her. But he awkwardly managed to ask, “Why are you standing here?”
“———”
The girl didn’t answer. She looked tense.
“D-do you have something to do with the girl who was killed here?” he tried.
“———”
“Look, I’m not anyone to be afraid of…”
That was a complete lie, but Mo Murder said it anyway, all the while wondering just what in the hell he was doing.
“…What do you want?” the girl asked, at last.
“Er, um…”
“We’re looking for the killer, too. Mind talking to us?” Nagi’s voice came suddenly from behind him. Mo Murder jumped. How long had she been there?
But the girl’s eyes brightened at once. “The killer?” she asked.
Mo Murder was even more surprised.
***
The girl’s name was Rika. She was a friend of the girl who’d been killed.
“How old are you?” Rika asked Nagi, as they sat down in a nearby café.
“Twenty-six,” Nagi said without a moment’s hesitation. Mo Murder almost fell out of his chair.
“You look so young…less than twenty,” Rika said, not doubting her in the slightest.
“I get that all the time,” the fourteen-year-old lied, smoothly.
Once again, Mo Murder was amazed by Nagi’s self-possession.
“You said you’re an…insurance investigator? Investigating…what?” Rika asked.
Nagi turned to Mo Murder expectantly.
“Uh, um. Well, how can I say this…the amount of insurance money we have to pay changes if the murders were random or if the victims were pre-selected targets—if the motive was a deep-seated grudge, for example.”
These were not words his false identity was likely to say. He was making it all up.
“A grudge? Shizue would never…”
“That’s what we’re investigating. It was an example, just an example. It is possible one of the other victim’s families is trying to make it look like the killings are indiscriminate.”
“That’s just…” Rika gasped.
“If that were true, it’d be unforgivable, right?” Nagi added. “So…could you tell us what you know?”
“But I don’t know…”
“What kind of person was Shizue-san? You sounded like you couldn’t imagine anyone hating her…?”
“Yes, right. She wasn’t the type to make enemies. Really.”
“She was outgoing?” Mo Murder asked.
Rika nodded. “Cheerful, considerate…occasionally a little strict, but that was just because Shizue was so strong.”
Nagi frowned.
“Strong? Strong how?”
“Oh…I don’t mean she was muscular or got in a lot of fights. Just… how can I describe it… her feelings were very direct?”
“She was strong mentally? She could be relied upon?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Strong… strong…” Nagi muttered, lost in thought.
Mo Murder had no idea what she was thinking, so he continued to question Rika on his own.
“Did she spend much time alone?”
“No. No more than anyone else, at least.”
“So she just happened to be alone the day she was attacked?”
“…I guess,” Rika said, tearing up a little. If she’d been with her friend, she believed, she might still be alive.
This flustered Mo Murder. He had no idea what to do with a crying girl. When someone died, the people they left behind would mourn, so he tried not to think about that. Knowing this, as an assassin, was a constant source of pain. He quickly changed the subject.
“Was she a leader? Did a lot of folks follow her?” he asked, glancing at Nagi. He was certainly following her.
“No, she wasn’t like that. It was more like…if everyone was planning on going to one place, and she wasn’t interested, she would say, ‘I’m out,’ and head home on her own. Like that.”
“I see.”
That sounded like something Nagi would do. Were all the victims the same type as Nagi?
If that’s true…then Nagi might be on the killer’s list, too.
Mo Murder found the thought made his blood boil. He could not bear to think it.
Why? Do I think she’s my prey? Do I not want anyone else to have her?
It baffled him.
“Something wrong?” Rika asked. Before he could even shake his head, Nagi jumped in.
“So, Shizue was not the type to be easily scared?” she asked, pointedly.
“N-no,” Rika said, a little overwhelmed.
“Did you ever see her scared?”
“N-no…now that you mention it, never.”
What’s she asking?
Mo Murder had no idea what she was driving at.
“Then…if she were to be afraid, what might scare her?”
“…I-I couldn’t…”
“Couldn’t begin to imagine. So she was that strong.”
“Y-yes.”
Nagi did not seem to be asking questions so much as merely confirming the answer she had already arrived at.
“…Was there a physical exam at your school recently?”
This question came out of the blue.
“Eh? Y-yeah, there was, but…”
“Was one of the doctors a young woman?”
“…Come to think of it, yes. She was there in place of our usual physician…”
“Okay then,” Nagi nodded, and abruptly stood up.
Without another word she ran out of the shop.
“——?!”
Rika and Mo Murder stared after her. Despite his surprise, he recovered quickly. “S-sorry about that! I’ll get the check!”
He hurriedly slapped a ten thousand yen bill on the table and ran after her.
Rika was left sitting alone, stunned.
What had just happened escaped her, but for a moment, in the eyes of the girl who had claimed to be twenty-six, she had seen a look she’d seen just once in the eyes of her dead friend.
That look had come when a teacher screamed at Rika for something she’d had nothing to do with. The accusation left Rika in tears. Shizue had hissed, “Unforgivable!” and gone running off to demand that the teacher apologize. Ultimately, not only had the teacher not apologized, but Shizue had ended up getting thoroughly scolded herself. Still, she had remained furious to the bitter end.
“You did nothing wrong! It makes me so mad!” she said, angry for what had happened to Rika.
When she went running out of here…her eyes were just like Shizue’s.
Like she was angry in the dead girl’s place, unable to forgive the horrible things done to her.
***
“Hey, wait for me!” Mo Murder called, barely managing to catch up with Nagi. He grabbed her shoulder.
“…………”
She turned back to him but did not answer.
“What’s going on?”
“I remember! She said she ‘wondered why there was such a thing as fear.’”
Mo Murder didn’t follow.
“Huh? What?”
“Yes…this was never about whether the killer was scared. It was about the victims. That was the motive! It was the victims who weren’t afraid of going somewhere deserted. The killer didn’t choose the place; she chose them because of their strength!”
“H-hang on…what are you talking about?”
“And the medical knowledge…the higher education…and more than anything else, she’d need to be able to do the research…it’s more than possible!”
She brushed Mo Murder’s hand away, turning to leave.
“H-hey, wait! What the…”
“You’re no longer a suspect, Sasaki-san.”
“Eh?”
“I’m sure you noticed, but I did suspect you. But not anymore…which means this is goodbye.”
“……!”
She put it so bluntly that it floored him. “Wh-what cleared me?”
“When I told you to talk to Rika-san, you were flustered. If you were the killer and just acting, you’d have slipped up then. But you remained a nice guy, and were flustered in a normal fashion, and clumsily went about doing something you clearly weren’t accustomed to. The killer would have relished the performance. And there was none of the phony behavior you might get with that. You were simply…awkward. That was enough for me.”
Mo Murder tried to ask again, “B-but I’m… I’m…”
“What, you think you could kill someone? That’s just an impulse, Sasaki-san. The bug inside you, squirming. You’re really a very nice man. You might think that’s ridiculous, but you would never kill anyone of your own accord.”
“B-but I…” killed your father! he almost blurted but caught himself just in time.
Nagi grinned at him. “Bye!” she said, and left with a wave of her hand.
“…W-wait! You…you know who the killer is?! You’re going to fight them?!”
There was no answer to his call. Nagi simply walked away without so much as a glance backwards.
3
“Heh heh heh…”
In the darkness, the Fear Ghoul laughed.
Everything was playing out as she had planned. Kirima Nagi had clearly figured out that Kisugi Makiko was the killer. Even if she wasn’t completely certain, she was clearly eying her as a prime suspect.
But she had expected that. Naturally, she remembered that when she was still human, she had once let her obsession show when talking to that girl. She knew things might turn out this way eventually. Nagi was smart, and the Fear Ghoul never underestimated her opponents.
But…you have no proof, do you, Nagi-chan?
If she went to the police, there was not a single scrap of evidence that could lead to her arrest. Even if there was, she had a large number of policemen under her control.
Nagi did not know that, but even so…judging from her personality, her sense of responsibility, she would come in person. And alone.
“Heh heh heh heh…!”
She was ready for her.
It would not be long before that girl’s incomparable strength would be hers to play with…
***
Mo Murder followed Kirima Nagi.
It was easy enough. Nagi might be unusually observant for a child, but no matter how closely she paid attention, she was just a human—Mo Murder was an expert at hiding and tracking and had been born to do nothing else. If he put his mind to it, he could follow anyone without their ever noticing.
Nagi first went to an apartment building—presumably her home. Mo Murder had no way of knowing, but it was where Sakakibara Gen had lived. He had signed it over to her when he left Japan.
She soon came out again, with a bag over her shoulders.
What’s in the bag? Surely not a weapon of some kind?
Given Nagi’s track record so far, it seemed like a distinct possibility. She might really be planning to fight the killer in person.
Fool! What you’re about to fight isn’t even human! He longed to tell her. But from a mission standpoint, allowing Nagi to draw the killer out would give him a distinct advantage. From that standpoint, what she was doing was ideal.
But.
But…argh…damn it!
Mo Murder found himself tortured by anxiety he did not fully understand.
Nagi jumped aboard a touring bicycle and sped off at a speed rarely obtained without a motor. She even had her helmet on. Such a well-prepared young woman!
Where’s she headed?
Following behind, Mo Murder desperately tried to determine how Nagi had figured out the killer’s identity. No matter how he examined the evidence, he still had no idea who was behind the murders. Perhaps Nagi knew something he didn’t, but he had been with her the whole time. He was an assassin, an expert at investigation, and yet he had not grasped even the slightest hint at the identity of the killer.
She said the “motive” was key…
He did not understand what she meant. Come to think of it, despite all the people he had murdered, he had never once thought about why people killed each other.
“There’s a bug inside you.”
“The bug inside you, squirming.”
Nagi’s voice, and the voice of the boy he had killed, echoed together inside his skull.
What bug?!
Everything about those two was different, but they had said almost the same thing.
He did not know it…but one of Kirima Seiichi’s books, When a Man Kills a Man, contained the following words: “Humans do not possess a single, focused will. In their hearts, they have countless bugs, buzzing in all directions. There are times when all these bugs pounce on the same food, but when they are focused on different desires, people take actions that can only be described as incoherent.” Both of them had taken the phrase from that passage.
Why? Why?
Nagi sped through back roads, reaching her destination almost completely unseen.
Once again, Mo Murder was surprised.
This was the hospital where Nagi had once stayed…and where he had attacked the Towa Organization traitor, Scarecrow.
***
Nagi removed her helmet and sighed.
The sky was already dark. The sun had set, and a full moon shone in the sky. Gray clouds, bathing in the moonlight, drifted from the east.
Nagi glanced up at the building above her and then headed around to the back. The front entrance already had a sign placed in front of it that read, “Visiting and examination hours are over for the day.”
At the back entrance she found a security guard and the head of maintenance. They looked surprised to see her.
“Nagi-chan, what brings you here?”
“Nothing major,” she said. She’d been here long enough to know them both.
“Visiting hours are over for the day…”
“Oh, no—I’m supposed to meet Dr. Kisugi. You mind calling her?”
“No problem,” the guard said, picking up the phone. “Uh, Dr. Kisugi? Kirima Nagi’s here, says she wants to talk to… oh, yes. Okay. Absolutely. Nagi-chan, go right up.”
“Thanks.”
She wrote her name on the night visitor log, putting “private business” down in the “purpose of visit” field, and went inside.
The lights were dimmed in the halls at night, and her footsteps echoed softly.
Nagi knew the layout well. She headed right for the elevators and pushed the call button.
***
Mo Murder watched Nagi step onto the elevator from the shadows, having snuck inside while she spoke with the guard.
What floor is she going to?
Without a sound, he ran up the stairs near the elevator shaft, stopping when it did.
His eyes paused on the “Psychiatry” sign.
“………?”
What was she doing here?
Nagi stepped out of the elevator. She crossed the lobby, moving purposefully.
He followed, making himself unnoticeable. Peering ahead, he saw Nagi stop in the smoking corner. There was a woman sitting on the sofa who stood up and called out to Nagi, stopping her. She wore a white coat. Must be a doctor. Probably the “Dr. Kisugi” whom Nagi had mentioned. In the low lighting, he could not make out her face from this distance.
“———”
“———”
They were speaking in low voices—not unusual, considering they were in a hospital at night—and even Mo Murder’s exceptional hearing could not pick it up. There was some machine humming nearby, drowning their voices out.
He wanted to get closer, but there was no way to do so and stay hidden.
Nagi seemed a little worked up. The doctor was shrugging and shaking her head, trying to soothe her.
“———”
At last Nagi shook her head and came back. They were done talking.
She went past the boiler room where Mo Murder was hiding and summoned the elevator again.
Mo Murder decided to head for the stairs, keeping ahead of her. But just before he stepped out of his hiding place, he noticed the doctor staring at Nagi.
“———?”
Something seemed wrong.
With her watching, he couldn’t leave. While he hesitated, Nagi stepped onto the elevator, and it began to descend.
At last the doctor looked away. But what she did next was even stranger.
She ran to the window over the entrance and opened it. She leaned all the way out and stared down at the ground below.
Then she came back to the smoking corner, bent over next to the sofa, and reached underneath it. When he saw what she pulled out, Mo Murder was stunned.
It was a rifle. She assembled it quickly and then carried it back to the window. She pointed the barrel downward, aiming carefully.
At who? Not at Nagi?!
Any second now, Nagi would be leaving below that window, heading for her bicycle in the parking lot. Right past where the doctor was aiming.
But if she uses a gun here, someone will notice… he started to think, but his experience as an assassin soon told him that this was not the case.
For example, what if the gun was firing tranquilizer darts shaped like small hypodermic needles?
Nagi would collapse if one hit her. The guards would come running at the sound. When they lifted her up, they would see the needle lying next to her, but those were hardly unusual in a hospital. They would ignore it and take her inside to the emergency room. And the doctor who would come to look at her…
“———!”
She could pull this off. There were countless ways to kill people. Mo Murder knew that better than anyone.
He could see the doctor’s face in the moonlight. Her lips were twisted, smiling.
When he saw that, Mo Murder felt like a steel pole had been rammed through his chest.
“Ack…”
Why had Kirima Nagi, who had only known him a few hours, told him with such confidence that he could never kill anyone of his own accord? He had killed countless people.
“Augh…”
Why had Kirima Seiichi been able to make such calm and rational choices even as he lay dying?
“Aaaaaaauugh…!”
Why did this bother him so much, why was he standing in his hiding place panicking, why?
“Aaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugghhhhhh!” he screamed, and threw himself toward the doctor.
Mo Murder was on her before she even turned around. He thrust his knife deep into her mid-section—it was a fatal blow.
Damn it!
His orders were to identify the killer. Killing her was secondary. But he had done it anyway.
He looked up into the doctor’s face and lost track of what he was thinking.
“Eh?”
He knew this woman’s face. Woman? She didn’t look like a woman—she looked like a girl, about eighteen…
And she was grinning at him, even with his knife buried in her. A grin filled with murderous fury.
“Consider this revenge for Scarecrow!” said the Towa Organization’s synthetic human, Pigeon, as she coughed up blood. She grabbed Mo Murder’s body, holding him immobile.
“……!”
Mo Murder quickly tried to turn around. But he was too late. Someone else was coming swiftly up behind him, soundlessly.
Unable to dodge, an overhand blow struck Mo Murder from behind, splintering his spine, pulping his organs, and bursting all the way through the other side of his body.
“…Guh…gah…?!”
He just managed to turn his head and look behind him. Kisugi Makiko, someone whom he had never met, stared down at him with a look so haughty it was no longer human but that of an all-powerful god.
“Hello, Mo Murder-san…and goodbye,” Fear Ghoul said coldly, and swung Mo Murder’s body into the air, tossing Pigeon away across the floor.
Then she flung Mo Murder out through the open window.
As he flew through the air, all Mo Murder could think about was the boy he had killed, and his sad face.
“…I warned you, didn’t I?”
And then he hit the ground.
***
“Dr. Kisugi just went downstairs,” the young female doctor said when Nagi went to see her. She went outside, where Kisugi Makiko should have been.
But there was no one there.
“…………”
Nagi never once let her guard down. Her body was tense, well aware that this might be a trap. Though she was alert, what actually happened was still able to stun her.
Someone fell from above, right in front of her.
“——?!”
He hit the ground, bounced once, and did not move again. A pool of blood formed under him.
He was not bleeding because of the fall. There was a huge hole already opened through the middle of his body.
And his face…
“S-Sasaki-san?!”
Nagi tried to run to him, but someone else hit the ground in front of her.
However, this person did not fall—instead, she had jumped. The person landed from more than ten meters above, with no damage to her legs at all. Upon landing, she stood upright easily.
No human could do that.
It was Kisugi Makiko.
Nagi gasped, and the Fear Ghoul grinned wickedly.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Nagi-chan,” she said, waving her hands as if declaring her innocence. But her hands were covered in blood. The victim lying behind her explained where the blood came from better than any words.
“…………!”
Nagi could feel cold sweat running down her back.
4
“A Scarecrow and a Pigeon? Not the best couple.”
“It’s crows that can’t stand scarecrows, not pigeons.”
Ultimately, it must have been love.
Pigeon only knew Scarecrow through work, but she loved him—very much. She did not realize what that love had meant until he betrayed the Towa Organization and was killed.
Taking care of Scarecrow’s office and apartment had been left up to her, and she had cried the whole time. At times she cried so much she wasn’t even sure why she was crying. The loss was so overwhelming, she feared that if she faced it directly she might go mad. Looking back on it now, that might have been a better choice than the one she made. Still, she remained alive, and carried out her duties as she always had before.
She was able to do that, but she could not shake the grief. She could not bear the thought that Scarecrow’s death had, ultimately, had no real effect on her life. She had loved him so much!
When her duties required her to contact Mo Murder, the very man who had killed Scarecrow, she felt a fiery anger boiling over inside her.
And then…that woman appeared.
“I know how you feel,” she said. “That’s why I’m going to give you a chance.”
She asked what the woman meant.
The woman laughed. “Is it not a beautiful thing to die in pursuit of revenge?” she asked.
She was terrifyingly good at getting what she wanted by working her way into the weaknesses in people’s hearts.
Pigeon had done as the woman said. She had acted as bait, drawn him to her, and used her life to prevent Mo Murder from dodging the woman’s attack.
And indeed, she was now dying.
“…………”
The cold hospital floors were sapping all the heat from her body. The world seemed so very cold and was gradually going dark.
Yet Pigeon did not regret what she had done. She had taken the side of an enemy of the Towa Organization. She was just like him now. She felt completely at peace.
Her face could no longer form expressions properly, but there was an approximation of a smile forming on her lips.
Because there was a shadow standing before her.
Ah…
The shadow wore a dark hat and cloak. It looked less like a person and more like a stovepipe.
Scarecrow…you came!
If she had looked closer, she would have seen that this shadow was shorter than the man she had known, and that its shape differed from his, but she was beyond the ability to make such distinctions.
“…………”
The shadow said nothing.
Tell me, Scarecrow…will I…go to heaven? she asked the shadow, utterly at peace.
But the shadow answered firmly, and rather coldly, “No. You’re going to hell.”
“———”
She was shocked, and briefly stunned, but soon…
Of course I am…just like you…
She nodded, smiling what must have been the most beautiful smile she had ever produced.
All of that happened in her mind alone. Pigeon’s expression remained exactly as it had been the moment she’d been flung aside. Her neck was twisted and did not move. She lay on the floor with her limbs thrust out askew.
She never once moved, never once responded.
“…………”
A shadow looked down at her.
It was the only thing that remained just as it had been in her vision. Black hat, black cloak, a strange, inhuman silhouette.
“…………”
The shadow stared at the corpse for a moment longer, but then it turned…and was gone.
Nagi’s reaction was frighteningly fast.
She ran without a glance behind her, jumped onto her bicycle, kicked the ground, and was pedaling at top speed a moment later.
“…Mmm!”
The swiftness of her movement surprised Makiko, but she soon gave chase.
Her legs were still evolving, but they could already reach speeds of more than fifty kilometers per hour.
…She chose to run away?
Glaring after Nagi, Makiko felt like she’d overestimated her. But she soon changed her mind.
Oh…she doesn’t want the security guards joining in. She’s drawing me away to protect them. I see, well done.
She grinned. Kirima Nagi would be the ideal prey.
***
The idea had crossed her mind, but Nagi had not really believed Makiko would come running after her. Nagi gritted her teeth tightly, trying to stop them from chattering.
Try as she might, she could not pull ahead of her pursuer. Their speed was identical… No, she realized that the thing chasing after her was probably not at full speed. She was merely following her prey, waiting for Nagi to tire. Like a wolf chasing a deer.
What now?
There was a three-way fork in the road ahead, and for a second she hesitated.
Should she head toward a populated area? Maybe the police could help…
No…that was out of the question. Nobody would believe her, and the monster behind her would kill them before she could even try to explain.
Think! What now?
Nagi leaned her body abruptly to one side, taking the road into the mountains, away from innocents.
From behind her came a sound. “Ah ha ha ha!” Loud laughter. “Beautiful, Nagi-chan! You really are Kirima Seiichi’s daughter. Taking the future of all mankind on your little shoulders, are you?”
The shrill voice seemed to stab her in the back. Nagi shuddered.
What now? No, I just have to grit my teeth and do it!
She turned her bicycle off the road and went down the grassy bank. It was a steep slope, and the bike jolted precariously as Nagi clung to it in desperation.
“——!”
Fear Ghoul bounded after her with a contemptuous smile on her face.
What, you thought that little burst of speed would let you get away?
If she had thought the steep slope would make her go faster, then she was mistaken. Placing herself below Makiko only meant…
“Ha!”
With a cheerful shout, the monster kicked off the ground, leaping into the air.
Twisting as she fell, she hurtled past Nagi as though she were leaping down a flight of stairs several steps at a time.
As she landed, she turned back toward Nagi.
Nagi’s eyes were open wide but she did not even have time to brake. The monster’s arm swung once, crushing the front wheel and knocking her sideways.
“Augh!”
Nagi rolled helplessly across the ground, reflexively breaking her fall like Sakakibara Gen had taught her.
She jumped to her feet hurriedly, but Kisugi Makiko was already right on top of her.
She ran, but she had not been able to get away on a bicycle, so she could hardly expect to do so on foot…
“Hee hee hee hee……! Go on, Nagi-chan, scrabble, scramble, more and more! Pathetic!” The high-pitched laughter followed right behind.
Nagi was running out of breath. Her body was no longer steady, rocking side to side as she ran on.
Yet her eyes remained the same, filled more with anger than with fear, glittering with power that her current predicament had not been able to diminish.
***
Kisugi Makiko could sense Nagi’s fearlessness.
Even now, there was something in Nagi stronger than her fear. Makiko couldn’t tell what it was; she could only discern fear. She had no idea what the other emotion was. Her prior victims had all grown terrified much faster.
The indomitable warrior? Even so…
At first she had been looking forward to destroying something so strong, but now that Nagi was showing so few signs of fear even while in mortal peril, she had moved beyond Makiko’s comprehension.
“…………”
Makiko stopped for a moment.
Nagi realized this quickly, from the sound, and glanced back. She was calm. She knew exactly what was going on.
“…………!”
When she saw Nagi’s eyes, Makiko felt the blood rushing to her head. What was she?
I thought fear was a universal absolute! But it means nothing to her? No, that’s impossible! Even she must crumble before complete, overpowering fear!
“Enough screwing around!” she shouted. She kicked a pebble lying near her feet. It flew with astonishing speed and accuracy and struck Nagi on the right thigh.
“———!”
Nagi fell over, sliding through the mud and right into a puddle from the momentum. The bag on her back opened, spilling its contents. A weapon—some kind of a nightstick—and several different kits fell into the water.
She flailed her limbs, trying to get out, but her leg was numb and her body would not respond properly.
She tried to move forward anyway, but Kisugi Makiko was already standing in front of her.
“…………”
Nagi backed away, but Makiko stepped forward, maintaining the same distance.
Nagi’s back came up against a tree behind her. She could move no more.
“…………”
She considered moving to the side, but then she saw a look in Makiko’s eyes. She knew that either way she moved she would be attacked instantly.
Nagi stopped moving. Her lower body was in the muddy water, both hands beneath the surface.
“…………”
She glared fiercely up at Makiko.
Makiko’s face twisted so violently she could almost hear it.
“…Fear me!” she snarled.
Nagi did not react.
“I told you to fear me! Scream! Cry! Beg like a pathetic worm! Panic!” Makiko shrieked, hysterically.
“…………”
Nagi’s expression never changed.
Makiko’s scowl grew deeper, but then she had an idea, and her grin returned. “Oh, right…I didn’t tell you about Sasaki Masanori yet, did I?”
Nagi’s cheek twitched. When she saw that, Makiko gave a satisfied nod.
“You may not have known it, but…he wasn’t human. He was like me. Well, he was a little different, technically, but the same kind of thing. His real name was Mo Murder. His employer ordered him to investigate me and to kill me if circumstances called for it. You see? He was an assassin. He’s killed dozens of people. Ha ha ha! You can’t judge people by their appearances. Especially when they aren’t even people!”
“…………”
At last, Nagi groaned.
“You think I’m lying? Aw, too bad. It’s all true. That man was using you, but I was one step ahead of him. Because you stuck your nose out, I was able to polish off a powerful enemy. I owe you one,” Makiko said, with a distorted smile.
“…………”
Nagi lowered her head, but even now, she was not afraid. Nagi’s weak point, which Makiko could sense, remained the same, unchanging.
It was “the death of someone important to her.”
Dying herself was far better than having that happen, and it was her one great weakness.
That’s why Makiko was so annoyed. This left her with no real way of getting at Nagi.
Was Sasaki Masanori important to Nagi? That hardly seemed likely. He was a stranger, someone she had just happened to run into, but it must have damaged her a little. His betrayal more than anything, probably. Nagi might not be scared yet, but she was rattled.
“I’m going to turn Sasaki Masanori-san into the serial killer. Instead of me, of course. Pigeon already placed all the evidence needed in his house while he was out looking for me! Ha ha, he was an assassin, after all. It won’t hurt him any to add a few of my murders to his list.”
“…………”
“You may think you’re some sort of hero, but you were played like a piano by a killer. How pathetic! Everything you tried to protect was an illusion. There is only one absolute in this world—fear.”
Her voice grew stronger. Nagi’s head was down. She wasn’t moving, but she was whispering something.
“………………Not…”
Her voice was too soft to hear.
“Eh? What?” Makiko stepped closer.
“…Not that I’m not scared. I’m just…”
She couldn’t quite make it out. Makiko stepped even closer, her face right next to Nagi’s. “What? I can’t hear you.”
“I’m just…worried.”
“Worried? About what?”
“…That it’ll fail.”
Her voice was very weak.
“Fail? What will fail?”
“Well…this attack!” Nagi roared.
The arm she’d kept hidden in the muddy water thrust forward, clutching some sort of staff. It was one of the objects that had spilled out of her bag a moment before.
“——!”
Makiko reacted quickly. The weapon darted past her chin, touching only air.
But she had not expected the attack, and it unbalanced her.
Nagi’s movement did not stop there.
“……Nargh!”
With a grunt, she stabbed the weapon into the water. It was a stun-rod that had been altered to remove all limiters, releasing extremely high-voltage electricity into the water where Nagi herself was sitting.
A horrendous electric current shot through Makiko’s body. The water they were in was no ordinary water—Nagi had spilled her bag deliberately, filling the small pool with materials that conducted electricity well.
“……Aughghghghghghghghgh!!”
Makiko arched backwards as electricity ran up her spine. A shock more powerful than anything else she had ever experienced ripped through her body.
While Nagi, on the other hand… there was smoke rising from her here and there, but she was standing upright, unaffected. She was wearing a custom-made insulated jumpsuit.
Of course, if the current had traveled up the water covering her body and reached her exposed head she would have died instantly. It had been quite a gamble.
“That’s why I was worried,” Nagi said, tossing aside the rod, which had shorted itself out. She pulled another one from her belt, extending it.
“Unghghghghghgh…!” the Fear Ghoul groaned, flinging herself at Nagi.
But a second later, Nagi’s body moved like a piece of paper carried by the wind and swept the Fear Ghoul’s legs out from under her.
Nagi’s hands only appeared to twist lightly. But with that, the overwhelmingly powerful monster spun in the air, crashing to the ground. The movement was less like karate and more like aikido. It was almost a sort of sleight of hand. The monster’s body slammed into the puddle, and then Nagi zapped it again.
“…………!!”
She screamed without making a sound.
It was clear which of them had won. Makiko could not understand what had happened.
How?
Why…?
Why, what, and how had things turned out like this…?
How can this be?!
Her entire body was numb, her limbs flailing wildly, her electrocuted body unable to move freely.
“Why?! How did…!”
Nagi grabbed her flailing arm, twisting it at the joint.
“…Why…?!”
She tried to struggle anyway, and then it happened:
—Snap.
Like a dry twig breaking, the arm Nagi was holding tore right off.
“……?!”
The force Nagi had been using knocked her over. But Makiko showed no reaction to the loss of her arm, just crawling away on her remaining three limbs, trying to run, faster than any human could possibly move.
“W-wait!” Nagi yelped, jumping up. But her legs were still throbbing with pain, and she toppled over again.
As she tried to right herself once more, she heard a voice.
“I’m surprised,” it said.
“……?!”
Nagi looked around. The person was close by.
“I did not expect you to escape that danger on your own. I took too long catching up with you, but it appears to have turned out well enough.”
It was a strange voice, like a boy’s, like a girl’s, like both at once.
“Wh-who are you?!” Nagi called out. But the person did not answer.
“Leave the rest to me,” it said, instead, and was gone.
***
Her entire body felt numb.
There was no pain from the ragged stump of her arm, just a vague sensation. She could no longer even remember who she was, as though her memories were covered in mist.
She had met something utterly terrifying. Something very frightening had happened to her. She remembered that much, if only because she was now running. Running away from it, yes, but away from what? Her confused mind could not remember. She felt like she had once had a grand purpose, but that purpose was now far, far away.
The powerful electric current had destabilized her evolving body. What had once been growing rapidly was now disintegrating at twice the speed, but she couldn’t even tell what was happening.
For a moment, the waves had crested, but then they passed by, the current washing past her, into the distance—gone forever.
There were little popping noises all over her body as parts of it started breaking down.
Still, she did not stop. She could not stop. She was scared. Terrified. It felt like everything in the world was after her, and she was trembling violently, her teeth chattering.
“Eek! Eeeeeek…!”
Tears poured down her face. What had she done wrong? How had this happened to her?
“Eeeeeeeeeee…!”
She could only assume that everything had been wrong. She felt that just being alive had been a mistake.
If she was going to be this scared, this frightened, then she was better off never having been born. Why was this happening to her? Why…?
She heard something in the distance. It was a strange sound—bright, yet somehow lonely. It was the sound of whistling carried on the wind. It was impossible to determine its source.
She looked up. She’d heard that music before.
“A proper fight to the death? Like a duel?”
Those words floated across her mind. Words she had said herself.
When had that been? Who had she been talking to? She couldn’t remember, but she knew there was at least one reason why she could not afford to be afraid.
Yes.
Him.
He was here.
I have to fight with him. We promised. No remorse. No time for fear. I have to face him down.
“…Ah ha!”
The smile was back on her lips.
“Ah ha! Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha…!”
She stopped running, and turned around, facing down the entire world. “I’ll take you on anytime! Come at me any way you like!”
Her voice was very feeble, barely able to claw its way out of her crumbling throat, but to her ears it sounded proud and haughty.
From behind her came the response, “I will.”
Even as the voice spoke, there was the sound of something slicing through the air.
She tried to turn around but suddenly realized everything was already spinning.
The sky, the earth, her own body, everything around her—she could see her headless body crumpling to the ground. But if she could see that, then that meant…
Uhm…?
As the world spun, she saw a shadow flit across her field of vision. The shadow wore a strange, asymmetrical expression, like it was smiling. Like it was crying.
That was it. The microfilament wire snaked out at the speed of lightning, cutting Kisugi Makiko’s head clean off. It spun through the air and fell to the ground.
5
When Nagi returned, Mo Murder was on the brink of death. His wound was mortal, but he had lived for several minutes despite that—a testament to the strength he had been given. Like Makiko said, he was not human. Despite his inhuman power, there was no saving him now.
“…Sasaki-san,” Nagi said. “Any last words?”
Breathing raggedly, Mo Murder tried to speak. Nagi leaned closer.
“…I’m glad…you survived,” he said. “The bug…isn’t that bad…”
That was all.
“…………”
Nagi stood up.
“The bug…?” she said, reflectively.
She looked behind her. A strange figure in a black hat and cloak stood there. It was the one who had spoken to her earlier.
“What do you think that means?”
“No idea. But if he says it isn’t bad, then that’s all you need to know. He seems to have been satisfied just knowing you’re alive. Isn’t that enough?”
Nagi couldn’t tell if the figure was a boy or a girl. It seemed about Nagi’s age, but she couldn’t be sure. There was white makeup and black lipstick on its face.
“I suppose…but…what are you? You followed me all the way here, but why did you finish off Kisugi Makiko?”
“You were the one that defeated her.”
“…I’m not so sure,” Nagi said, scowling. “I feel like this whole affair was a train wreck. Not one thing went right…”
“Not everything does,” the cloaked figure said, oddly confident. It was a strange manner of speech—expressing conviction without reason.
“What do they call you?”
“You mean my name?”
“…What else would I mean?”
“Fair enough,” the cloaked figure said, thinking about it. Then he nodded. “I shall call myself Boogiepop.”
“…That’s a weird name.”
“You could say that as well, Kirima Nagi.”
Nagi nodded, ruefully.
She turned serious again. “…what should we do about…the leftovers?”
“Forget them. Someone else will clean up,” Boogiepop said, disinterested.
Nagi glared at him, but he just shrugged.
“There are forces at work behind this. Major ones. Leaving things to them will cause less trouble,” he said, calmly.
That did seem to be true, Nagi thought. “So Sasaki-san will be the killer?”
“If the world knew a doctor was behind it, there would be panic. All the patients she treated would be looked at with suspicion. And I doubt “Sasaki-san” would want that. He would have been happy to take the blame. Anything for you.”
“…………”
Nagi did not look satisfied.
“What went wrong?” she muttered. What terrible thing had happened that brought all this to pass?
“Must be the bug,” Boogiepop said.
Nagi looked up.
“The world is not moving unrelentingly in one direction. It moves in all directions, like a swarm of bugs. Sometimes they make one unified motion, but other times, like this case, the movement simply collapses, without ever resulting in anything. That is all.”
“Then what should I do?” Nagi asked, her voice tight. “How can I stop this from happening again? What can I do to make things turn out better?”
Boogiepop frowned. “You intend to try again?”
Nagi glared at him. “Is that a problem?”
“No…but if that’s the case, then this is not goodbye.”
“Eh?”
“We may well meet again, many times, in similar circumstances,” he said with a wink.
“I suppose.” Nagi shook her head.
When she looked up again, the cloaked figure was gone. He had vanished in an instant.
“…………”
She stood stunned for a moment, but then shook her head again, “Oh well,” she said.
Then she slowly walked away, dragging her injured leg. She glanced back at the body once, but soon moved forward again. This time she did not stop.
The full moon above bathed the world in its constant glow.
“The Bug” closed.