File 13: Pandora in the Next Room

1

“All right, all right, all right, keep going, all right... Okay, stoooop!”

Following Natsumi Ichikawa’s directions, I lowered the AP-1 down from the truck, then breathed a sigh of relief. Unlike the other world, where I could drive it however I liked, here I had to worry about bumping into things, and it was exhausting.

Today, we took out the AP-1 that we had stored on the other side of the gate at Kozakura’s house and loaded it into a truck that Natsumi drove. I wasn’t keen on riding in a truck alone with her, who I wasn’t all that close with, so I took the train alone from Shakujii-kouen to Minami Yono in Saitama—or maybe, considering it was the closest station to my house, it was better to say I headed home.

When I stepped down from the AP-1, Natsumi got out of the driver’s seat, closed the door loudly, and came over to me. “That’s that, then. Okay, I’ll take the key now.”

“Oh, right.”

After handing her the key, I turned around. The roofless, doorless piece of farm equipment looked awfully out of place next to all the cars in the garage at Natsumi’s house—the Ichikawa Automobile Repair Shop. Natsumi, in her work clothes, was jotting down some quick notes on a form attached to a clipboard. “So, an engine replacement and a general inspection, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t know much about parts, so I’ll leave that to you.”

“You know, normally when people come to us to modify their cars, they have something specific in mind... Well, whatever. Consider it done.”

I had asked Natsumi to modify the AP-1 as compensation for resolving the incident where Sannukikano appeared at her house.

I’d bought the piece of farm equipment on an alcohol-fueled whim when we went to Ishigaki Island, and now it was my and Toriko’s trusty partner for exploring the other world. It could carry stuff and drive over uneven terrain, so it was perfect for the other world, but... Yeah, the top speed being three kilometers per hour was way too slow.

It was still convenient, though, and I’d gotten attached to it, so I was looking to change the engine for something more powerful. I didn’t know what to do about it when Akari brought us the hassle that was the Sannukikano incident, but that was how we met Natsumi, an automotive mechanic, so it worked out in the end. Getting the modification done was going to be free, too.

While I was thinking about it with a grin on my face, Natsumi gave me an uneasy look. “So, since this is how I’m thanking you for what you did, I’m generally going to be covering the expenses here, but...”

“Sorry to put you out like this.”

“Let me just come out and ask: how much can we go over?”

“Huh?”

“If we just do a simple engine swap here, I think you’ll have problems. A big engine’ll change the balance of the machine, and that makes it easier for the suspension to break. It’ll be noisier, too, so you’ll definitely want to replace the muffler. You said you’d leave it to me, but how far does that go?”

“...How much extra can I afford to pay, you mean?”

“Yeah. I’m not charging you for our labor, or anything like that. This is about the cost if we need more parts than expected.”

“Erm... Is that going to be tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?”

“Ahh, okay. If there was a 100,000, 200,000, and 500,000 yen plan, how much would you be able to pay?”

“O-One hundred thousand.”

“Ah, got it. Okay then.” Natsumi nodded easily. “Can you give us about two weeks? I’ll contact you when it’s done. See ya.”

It’s not free?

I must have looked awfully confused after Natsumi saw me out of the Ichikawa Automobile Repair Shop with a perfunctory goodbye.

2

But, well...

Now, now. It is what it is. It feels like she just took me for a ride, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Probably.

On the way back, I bought some pre-cooked side dishes from the supermarket for dinner, and as I started walking home under the darkening sky, I had managed to get my feeling largely under control.

Yeah, of course it would be like this. There has to be a limit on the price, even if it’s compensation for what I did for her. If I just leave it to her and take no responsibility for the choices, that’s got to be a headache for Natsumi. It’s good that she at least told me in advance.

Yeah.

But, it’s still kinda...

I dunno. Maybe because I expected it to be free, the recoil from that is hitting me especially hard. It also bugs me because when she offered me the hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, and five hundred thousand yen plan, I instinctively went with the least expensive. Sure, it’s a fortune for someone like me, but this is a tool that we’re going to be risking our lives with in the other world. Is it really a good idea to cheap out on it at this point? Maybe I still have a long way to go as a person...

While I was walking and thinking, I arrived at my apartment.

I lived in Room 102, the middle of three on the first floor. As I stepped into the first floor corridor, digging through my bag in search of the key, I spotted a figure under the flickering fluorescent lights. They were trying to open the door to Room 103.

Blech. I mentally stuck out my tongue in distaste. I’d never run into them before now.

Maybe I was letting it bother me too much, but running into one of the neighbors in front of my door just felt awkward. But if I stopped now, they’d know I was being overly cautious...

I slowed my steps as I continued to approach, and hoped they would hurry up and go inside. In vain, because by the time they got the door open, I had already reached my own room.

For lack of any better option, I glanced at them, meaning to nod, when I noticed something odd.

The hand my neighbor was holding the doorknob with—the thing protruding from the end of their sleeve—was awfully... flat.

Huh?! I looked up, but by that point my neighbor had already slipped through the door and vanished. The door shut quietly, and I was left alone in the dimly lit hall.

“Hmm...?” I stood there, scrutinizing the door for a while. The knob didn’t turn again, and I heard no sound.

I feel like I just saw something weird...

I cocked my head to the side as I turned my own key, went inside, and closed the door.

I locked the door behind me, and put the chain on it, too. I turned on the lights as I took off my shoes, and walked through the kitchen into my room.

A familiar six-mat room, with shaded fluorescent lights.

I tossed my bag down on the bed and put the other bag from the supermarket on the table before taking off my coat and putting it on a hanger on the curtain rail. I peeled off my socks, chucked them in the washing machine, and went to wash my hands in the sink.

Turning off the water, I perked my ears up. I didn’t hear a thing from next door.

“Hmm...?”

I returned to my room, sat at the low table, and pulled out the food I had bought at the supermarket. Horse mackerel with nanban marinade, mashed tofu salad with green beans, and chestnut rice. I boiled water in my T-fal electric kettle, poured it into a bowl with a packet of instant miso soup, and started eating.

Though I was loose with my money when eating out with Toriko, most of the time, when I was on my own, I ate discounted food from the supermarket. It was damage control for my Engel’s coefficient. I had a microwave, so I could reheat them, but I had gotten used to eating the side dishes cold, so a lot of the time I just ate them as is. Maybe that was just a habit from high school that stuck with me.

I finished eating in silence and went to the sink to wash the containers. I rinsed them gently, put them in the bag for plastic garbage, washed my bowl and chopsticks, laid them down to dry, turned off the water—and perked up my ears.

As I expected, I didn’t hear anything.

“...”

I went back to my room, sat at my desk, opened my laptop, and checked the university website. Tomorrow was Monday, and I had lectures to attend, but I was pretty sure I had a report due, too. It sometimes felt unrealistic to me, but as university students, Toriko and I both had to put in a decent amount of study time, too.

Honestly, because we’d gotten involved with the other world, our studies, which were supposed to be our main focus, had been put under a lot of pressure. I ended up thinking that maybe I ought to just give up on them. If I did, I could make a living trading in the stuff I picked up in the other world for money.

But even though I thought about it, I didn’t hate studying so much that I wanted to stop right this second, and I was paying tuition. So despite it all, I was still dragging myself to school.

I opened my partially written report and clacked away at the keyboard for a while. It was a homework assignment for Outline of Sociology II, summarizing how the “traditional” dances of Bali had been remade as performance arts for the tourism industry. I got distracted as I remembered the constant chak-chak-chak chanting in the kecak dance video we watched during the lecture.

...No, it wasn’t just the kecak dance that was making it hard to focus. My mind kept going back to my neighbor’s hand.

My fingers stopped and rested on the keyboard.

“...Yeah, that really was weird, huh?” I murmured and closed my eyes, trying to recall what had caught my eye for a second there.

The paper-thin wrist reaching out of their sleeve. It had a black, metallic luster to it. The way tacks were randomly nailed into it, it was too shoddy to imagine it was a prosthetic...

My eyes widened as I felt a shudder run down my spine.

No... Wait, what? What did I see?

Thinking about it now, it was strange how indistinct their clothing was. I tried to remember, but all I got was the idea that, maybe, it was kind of feminine? Even if you took my total disinterest in what kind of person lived next door to me into consideration, they’d still left way too little of an impression.

Come to think of it, in all the time I’d lived here, I’d never heard anything coming from the next room. Because this was my first time living alone in an apartment, I was doing my best to be careful about noise, so I’d noticed that my neighbor was awfully quiet. I could hear the TV, the clattering of dishes, and other stuff like that from the other neighbor in Room 101, after all.

I finished up the report, which had turned into a mess due to my lack of concentration, shut my laptop, and tried listening again.

As I expected, I didn’t hear anything.

I hesitated a while, then went to the kitchen and got a cup. I pressed it up against the wall, and put my ear next to it.

I know there was no excuse for what I was doing, but if I could be sure that it was just a very quiet person living next door, that was enough. The problem was... what if it wasn’t? I felt like I recognized this scenario. Like I had read an experience report where the neighbor’s hand looked weird when they were opening their door...

I pressed my ear to the bottom of the cup, and held my breath.

At first, all I heard was the flow of blood inside my own ears, but as I closed my eyes and focused, I heard muffled voices.

“...no.”

“Pull...”

“...who would...”

“...the wall.”

Huh? I thought. Though I couldn’t make out what they were saying, it sounded like there were multiple people talking.

Under the voices, I heard the sound of a hard object rubbing against something. Like a drawer being opened and closed. Gradually, the voices got clearer.

“Where did you shijira the woman?”

“In the late night field.”

“We must have a penitent cow.”

“We must.”

“Will the day of kiumi be kujiri, perhaps?”

I didn’t understand. Something was fundamentally warped, like it was a language from another world.

I had heard someone talk like this before. It was like this when the pub turned into an interstitial space, just before we wandered into Kisaragi Station.

The voices faded to the point I couldn’t hear them anymore. Had they simply stopped talking? Or was the conversation continuing in quieter tones? I pressed my ear harder against the cup.

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, I heard voices, clearly, from the other side of the wall.

—Is this the woman?

—It is the woman.

—Kamikoshi.

—Sorawo.

“Eek...!”

I pulled away from the wall with such force that I landed on my backside. The cup rolled across the tatami.

In the quiet night, that noise must have echoed through the whole building. But I didn’t have the presence of mind to be worrying about that.

Those words, they had clearly been spoken to me, with the speaker’s mouth close to the wall.

Knock, knock.

I heard knocking.

I turned to the entrance.

The door looked white under the kitchen lights.

Knock, knock.

More knocking.

Who was it?

Nobody who was suddenly knocking on my door at this hour could possibly be here on any decent business. If it was an emergency, they’d probably raise their voice and call for me.

In other words, I shouldn’t open the door for them.

I’m so glad I put the chain on... I thought, but then became intensely concerned about the mail slot.

Shoot. I really don’t want them opening it and peeking in. I should have blocked it...

Sitting up cautiously, I got into a crouching position, so I could stand whenever I needed to. I reached for the bag on my bed, and, as quietly as I could, pulled the Makarov out of it. I didn’t want whoever was on the other side of the door to sense me, so I stayed where I was, and waited to see what would happen.

Maybe ten minutes passed like that. I didn’t sense anything more from the other side of the door, or from Room 103.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps out in the hall.

There was the jangling of keys, and then the door to one of the other rooms opened, and closed. This was followed by heavy footsteps, and the muffled sounds of a TV. It looked like the resident of Room 101 had come home.

“Whew...” I let out a sigh, and stood up.

From the sound of things, the resident of Room 101 hadn’t seemed especially surprised. Though I still had no idea who (or what) knocked at my door, I could safely assume the situation outside my room wasn’t too obviously bizarre. But I didn’t plan on opening it to check.

Whoever they were, they’d spoken my name.

There was no doubt about it. The resident of Room 103, and the one that knocked on my door were influenced by the other world.

“Damn it...”

I groaned, and let out a deep sigh.

It’s come this far? All the way to my house...

Having seen the gate that appeared in Kozakura’s front yard and the way Toriko’s room got connected to the other world, I had accepted that something like this was a possibility, but... now that it actually happened, I was still super unhappy about it.

I frowned as I looked at the door.

“...Should I block it, just for now?”

I took a roll of cloth tape from the shelf above the sink, walked over in front of the door, and taped over the newspaper slot so that it couldn’t be opened.

I turned off the lights, and got up on the bed. I sat with my back to the wall with Room 101, and wrapped myself in a blanket because I felt cold.

I pointed the Makarov toward Room 103 and thought about it for a while.

What was happening on the other side of that wall?

What would happen if I opened fire here?

...Someone would call the cops, obviously...

I gave up and lowered my gun.

Here in this dark room, no matter how I stared at the wall with my right eye, I couldn’t see what was on the other side.

3

“Oh, Senpai! Good morning!”

During lunch the next day, I was slurping away at a bowl of soba topped with a raw egg and mountain vegetables when Akari Seto spotted me and came over to talk.

“Morning,” I replied, unenthused, and Akari sat down across from me as though that was the normal thing to do.

“I heard from Nattsun. You asked her to customize a farming machine.”

“Ah, yeah.”

“What are you gonna use it for? Something on the Otherside?”

“You’re talking too loud...”

“Oh! Sorry!”

I hadn’t wanted to tell Akari about the other world, but between the Ninja Cats and Sannukikano, we had been through so many bizarre experiences together that we had to tell her at least a little. When she was listening to me, Toriko, and Kozakura talk, some information was guaranteed to come out. We had never taken her further than the interstitial space, though, so Akari thought that the interstitial space was the “Otherside.” And that me and Toriko were “specialists” of some sort, researching it...

I had no intention of correcting her vague and imprecise understanding. I just didn’t want to bring any people to that world that I didn’t have to. That’s why I always gave Akari and her excessive curiosity the cold shoulder, but it did nothing to discourage this kouhai of mine trying to strike up a conversation.

While I was slurping my noodles and giving half-hearted responses to whatever Akari said, I noticed her staring at my face.

“...What?”

When our eyes met, Akari leaned across the table. Without taking her eyes off me as I unconsciously recoiled, Akari said, “Umm, Senpai, aren’t you a little worn out?”

“You... You think?”

“You’ve got bags under your eyes. Have you been sleeping properly?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t been sleeping. At all.”

The fact was, I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night until it was bright out. When 5:00 came around, and there was light outside my drawn curtains, I suddenly relaxed, and was able to collapse into bed. Though I was able to sleep in the few hours before third and fourth period, unlike with a normal all-nighter, I had spent the time on edge, holding a gun, so it was incredibly exhausting. I had been in a rush when I left the house, too, so my face must have looked just awful.

My response made Akari’s face darken. “That’s not good, Senpai. You may be busy, but you need to sleep at night.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I would if I could... I had an uninvited guest last night, so, yeah...”

“Huh? Was it the big C?”

The big C? I was perplexed for a moment, then laughed a bit. In some ways, maybe a paranormal phenomenon that you encountered at home was a lot like a cockroach. It doesn’t understand what you say, and there’s no telling what it might do. Even when you can’t see it anymore, you can’t feel safe until you’ve dispatched it, so you’re constantly on edge. Now that I thought about it, they were the same.

“No, no. It’s not a bug.”

“Huh? Then... Was it someone suspicious? A stalker?!” Akari continued with gusto. “Um, if you’d like, I could come over! I do karate!”

“...Thanks, but no thanks.”

The closest thing I’ve ever met to a stalker is you, always following me around. Oh, but... I reconsidered a little.

Maybe I was being too cold to Akari. Like Toriko had said before, Akari was the one and only kouhai that looked up to me. Setting aside the other world for a moment, maybe I ought to treat her a little more kindly.

I don’t know how she interpreted my silence, but the look on Akari’s face got more and more worried. Pulling back, as if she had suddenly calmed down, she asked, “Are you really all right, Senpai? If it’s better that I not ask, I won’t pry too much, but... Um, my place is nearby. Why don’t you come stay the night?”

“Huh?” I was dumbstruck by the unexpected offer. “Stay at your place?”

“It’s an ordinary one-room apartment, so it’s small, but if you don’t mind that...”

I was experiencing something akin to culture shock.

Oh... There are people who can invite others to stay over so easily. It never occurred to me. My home is my territory, and I’d never want to let anyone stay there.

“Um, Senpai?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Will you come? To my place?”

Should I have been grateful for the offer?

Still, I couldn’t let her dote on me so easily. I couldn’t relax if I was staying at someone else’s place anyway. And she was my kouhai...

I shook my head. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

“You are? But...”

“Sorry, I need to get going.”

I wanted to stop by the library before fifth and sixth period, so I got up out of my seat. As I took my tray to the return window, Akari called after me.

“I mean it, Senpai! You can come any time! Don’t hesitate to ask!”

4

When fifth and sixth period’s lectures were finished, I left the university. There was a time when I would have gone to work part-time at a convenience store after this. Now that I was making money off the other world, I didn’t have to anymore. I had been thinking things had gotten easier, but now that my own apartment wasn’t safe ground anymore, it hurt not to have a place outside where I could distract myself. It was tough not being able to relax at home. I was this exhausted after just one night, so what happened last evening must have hit me pretty hard.

It was too late to go explore the other world, and I’d heard Toriko was busy this week. Because of all the school she’d skipped, she had a whole bunch of stuff piled up that she needed to take care of. Knowing that a seemingly flawless beauty like Toriko could be so sloppy helped me relax a little. I smiled a little, knowing she was having her own problems with reports and such, too. Keep at it, Toriko.

No, forget Toriko for now. I needed to figure out what I was going to do.

On the ten-minute walk home, my feet felt heavy.

I don’t like this. I don’t wanna go home...

To be a bit more precise, I wanted to go home, but I didn’t like the room next to mine.

Should I just go on the offensive? But how? Pull my gun and raid the place?

“No, no, no....”

I shook my head. There was no way I could do that. No matter what it was that was living next door, even if I was able to take it down using my right eye and Makarov, the gunshots were guaranteed to result in a police report.

If I couldn’t use the gun, should I actually have Akari come? Make her go berserk using my right eye, and sic the karate monster on them?

That was clearly way too inhumane. I wasn’t that far gone.

Could I talk to the DS Lab about it and have them send someone over? Like the operators from Torchlight?

No, I might do it if I was seriously out of other options, but I wasn’t keen on the idea at all. I wanted to keep my relationship with the DS Lab strictly business. They weren’t a group I could just call up whenever I had a personal problem, and, to be frank, I don’t think there was anyone who was more of a “specialist” than me and Toriko when it came to matters involving the other world.

“Oh, geez. I don’t like this...”

It was weighing on me, but I really did have to handle this myself somehow. When you live alone, and there’s a cockroach in your room, you need to kill it yourself.

When I reached the apartment, I cautiously peeked into the first floor corridor.

There was no one there.

I stood in front of my door, glaring at Room 103.

I dunno, but are you there? Invading my safe space. I’ll show you...

I went inside my room and instantly locked and chained the door. I walked across the tatami with heavy footsteps, laid down my bag, and glared at Room 103 with my arms crossed.

Okay, now how am I going to deal with you?

I think I ended up on the back foot yesterday because I was doing sneaky stuff like eavesdropping. This is just my personal opinion, but paranormal phenomena are a lot like malicious people. The moment you take a passive posture, they come at you. In order to avoid being at their mercy, you have to go on the offensive. If you wait for them to make their move, you’re playing into their hands. You have to take the initiative.

“But I still can’t use the gun...”

If I couldn’t shoot, maybe I should try a more peaceful method? Like banging on the wall? If I slapped the wall hard with my bare hand, what response would I get?

Yeah, that’s it. I’ll treat them like a really, really bad neighbor.

The more I thought about it, the funnier it was.

“Okay...”

I dramatically raised my hand, then slammed it against the wall I shared with Room 103.

Bam!

“Wah!”

I was surprised by the sound being louder than I expected.

No, was this really the time to get startled? I got back on track, and raised my hand again.

Bam, bam, bam! I repeatedly smacked the wall. It felt kind of refreshing. I’m sure the whole building could hear me, but it was still noon, so they’d have to deal with it. I was serious about this.

My hand was starting to sting, so I stopped banging and listened.

I couldn’t hear a thing. Were they pretending not to be home?

Okay. I’ll go knock on their door then. It was my turn to go and do what the three middle-aged women did.

I turned around to go outside, getting weirdly worked up about this.

That’s when it happened.

Ding, dong.

The doorbell rang.

I froze.

Ding... Dong...

It rang again. This time, the gap in the middle was awfully long.

I pulled my Makarov out of my bag. I knew I couldn’t shoot. It was like a protective charm.

I took a deep breath, and looked up.

Okay. I’m not going to let this scare me. This is my house.

Having made up my mind, I moved into action. I crept through the kitchen and stood in front of the door.

If I thought about it with a clear head, it was possible this was all a misunderstanding on my part. Room 103 was definitely turning into an interstitial space yesterday, but it was possible that a normal person lived there usually. Their awful neighbor (me) had suddenly started banging on the wall, so they’d gotten mad and come to protest. Huh? That was sounding increasingly likely.

Yeah, I’ve been letting the blood rush to my head. Calm down a little.

I slowly brought my eye to the peephole in my door.

The scenery outside was dyed in tones of twilight in the fish lens view.

There was a tall, red person.

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the kitchen floor, leaning against the fridge.

“Huh...?”

I blinked, and sat up. My head hurt. I hadn’t hit it. The pain was in the back of my neck, like the times when I overused my eye.

I touched my face and it was wet, so I thought I was injured, and freaked out a bit. It wasn’t blood. It was tears. My right eye was leaking a copious amount of tears, running all the way down my neck to stain my shirt as far as my chest.

I looked at the clock. It was close to 6:00 PM. That meant I’d been out for close to an hour.

This is... bad. I’m getting nowhere.

No matter what it was I was facing, it was too dangerous for me to try and go it alone.

I cautiously stood up, washed my face in the sink, pulled out my phone, and chose one of the few contacts I had listed to call.

“...Um, err, Akari? Sorry to call all of a sudden. Umm... So, you know how you were saying I should stay at your place today? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Hey, is that offer still valid...?”

5

“Senpai! I’m glad you came!”

When Akari greeted me at the door, I was relieved to see that she looked as happy as she said she was.

She was wearing a T-shirt and striped shorts. She had removed her makeup, and was clearly in relaxation mode. I know I’d come to take her up on her offer, but was it really okay?

“I’m really sorry about this.”

“Don’t be! Please, come on in!”

Akari’s place was about a fifteen-minute walk from mine, on the first floor of an apartment building that was close to the Ichikawa Automobile Repair Shop. Come to think of it, she did say that she and Natsumi were childhood friends.

I entered the room. It had about the same layout as mine, but the building was newer. The number of shoes at the entrance and how girly they were made an impression on me.

“I thought you were one of the locals. Don’t you live with your folks?”

“That’s how it was at first, but when my family had to move away for work, I was the only one who stayed. It was easy going to a local university, and I wanted to keep taking lessons with the same sensei that I’ve been learning karate from since primary school.”

“My room is the same, but aren’t you scared, living on the first floor of an apartment building? From a crime perspective.”

“Yeah, I really shouldn’t have. Just look at what happened.”

I looked at where Akari was pointing, and the lower half of her window had countless thin scratch marks in it.

“Is that...?”

“The Ninja Cats scratched it up. It really convinced me I should have gotten a room on the second floor.”

Come to think of it, I recognized the pattern on the curtains, and the placement of the television, too. They had appeared in the pictures that Akari sent me during the Ninja Cats incident.

“Oh, right... I brought you something.”

Taking the two convenience store bags I offered, Akari cried out. “Oh, no way! You shouldn’t have! Thank you so much!”

“No, it’s nothing special...”

It really was nothing special. Just some bottles of tea, a bag of potato chips, and stuff like that. I had enough social awareness to know I shouldn’t show up empty-handed, but I had no clue what I should bring, so I just bought some stuff that seemed like reasonably safe choices at the convenience store. But thinking back, whenever Akari came to Kozakura’s house, she’d bought youkan jelly, dorayaki, and other proper souvenir sweets. It was clear that Akari was more social than I was. I started to feel embarrassed. Potato chips? What was I thinking? Was I a primary schooler going over to a friend’s house? Maybe it would have been better if I showed up empty-handed?

While I was thinking that, Akari smiled. “You know, this is fun, it takes me back to primary school, seeing stuff like this.”

Urgh... That remark hurt, even if I knew she didn’t mean anything bad by it.

Akari told me to have a seat, and headed into the kitchen. I recomposed myself, and sat at the low table. It was small and round. Way cuter than mine. Akari soon followed with dishes, and served the tea and chips.

“Here you go, Senpai.”

“Oh, thanks. Don’t mind me,” I said, but this was stuff I’d bought, so I crunched away without a second thought.

“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

“Oh, I just didn’t want to be in the house anymore.”

“Because of personal drama? Or was it...?” There was a sparkle in Akari’s eyes as she asked concerned questions. She must have been interested to know if the trouble was something to do with my “specialty.”

Oh, what the heck. I could throw her a bone once in a while. I owed her one for letting me stay the night, after all.

“I ended up in a situation similar to your Ninja Cats, and was wondering what to do.”

“I knew it! Well, let me help you out! I’ll knock the stuffing out of them!”

Akari got just as fired up as I’d expected, so I raised a hand to calm her down. “Settle down. I don’t want you going wild at my house.”

“Oh, you don’t...? But...”

“I know you’re strong. But if you get carried away and put holes in the walls, I’ll never get my deposit back. You go too far sometimes when the blood rushes to your head, right?”

“Huh? Do I?”

Well, that was my fault for looking at her with my right eye...

I looked around the room, not sure what else I should talk about to the now slightly-disappointed Akari. There was a bed, a small bookshelf, and one of those cheap, easily assembled shelves made of plywood. The room was made up of the same things as mine, but for some reason it felt different. Was it the difference in the number of cosmetic products?

While I was looking around, my stomach grumbled.

“Senpai, have you eaten?”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten since lunch. “No...”

“Well, that’s perfect, then. I’ll make something.”

“Huh?! I couldn’t make you do that.”

“No, no, it’s no trouble. I haven’t eaten yet, either! I was just making rice, too!”

If she was going to say that, I’d feel bad refusing. While I mumbled my thanks, Akari went and got some ingredients out of the fridge, then set to work cooking.

She cooks for herself. That’s so impressive...

I was assaulted by the sound of vegetables and meat sizzling in the frying pan, along with the aroma of sesame oil. Once I became aware of them, I only got hungrier. While I was waiting with nothing to do, Akari’s smartphone, which she had left out on her desk, started to ring.

“Your phone’s ringing.”

“Could you see who it is?”

I stood up and looked at the top of the desk. The caller ID read “Natsumi Ichikawa.”

“It says it’s from Ichikawa-san.”

“Could you answer it then? My hands are full right now.”

“Wha? Well, okay.” I picked up the still ringing phone, and pressed the answer call button.

“Hello, this is Seto’s representative.”

“Huh? Who’re you?”

The voice on the other end of the line sounded suspicious. Was this anything to be so combative about, right out the gate?

“It’s me. Sorawo Kamikoshi.”

“Huh? Kamikoshi-senpai? What are you answering Akari’s phone for?”

“I’m over at her place now. She’s letting me stay the night, so—”

“Huh?!”

“Senpai, could you put her on speaker phone?”

I did as she asked, and without stopping cooking, Akari raised her voice to say, “Nattsun! Senpai came over to play! Do you want to come for dinner, too?”

“I’m coming!!” Natsumi shouted and hung up.

As I was wondering what the heck that was about, the doorbell rang about three minutes later. Because of what had happened at my place, I was cautious for a moment, but Akari cheerily said “Comiiiing,” and then opened the door. A winded Natsumi Ichikawa took off her sandals as if she was used to it, and strode into the room.

“What’re you doing in Akari’s room?”

“What am I doing? I—”

Before I could answer, Akari interrupted. “I invited her.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Senpai’s having some trouble, and can’t go home right now, so I asked her to stay with me.”

“...Is that it, Kamikoshi-senpai?”

“That’s what happened, nothing more to it than that.”

“...Oh, yeah?”

Natsumi plopped herself down. She wasn’t wearing her work clothes from the factory, but a track suit with a flashy red T-shirt inside. She rubbed her hair, which was dyed red except at the roots, and with an unamused look on her face she asked, “You’re gonna stay the night?”

“I was planning on it.”

“Oh, yeah?”

What’s with her?

Akari brought the fried meat and vegetables over. There was a pot of miso soup on the gas burner. “Nattsun, help.”

“Sure.”

Natsumi obediently stood up and went to get the dishes.

“Um, Senpai, you’re going to have to use disposable chopsticks.”

“Not a problem.”

“Sorry. I should have prepared enough sets for guests.”

With the main dish, a side dish (sliced daikon radish which she got from the fridge), miso soup, and fresh cooked rice all laid out on the table in front of me, this was more of a proper meal than I’d expected.

The dishes I was using were totally different from Akari and Natsumi’s, clearly a makeshift solution, but that was no impediment to the taste.

“You’re a good cook, huh, Akari?” I said.

“Nah, all I did was fry some stuff.”

“But it tastes good, Akari,” Natsumi agreed.

“Hey now, it’s embarrassing when you both praise me like that.” Akari acted bashful. Meanwhile, Natsumi gave me a look filled with pride for some reason.

What is this?

“Oh, right. Ichikawa-san, I wanted to talk to you about the additional expenses for the AP-1.”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“I know I said a hundred thousand on the spur of the moment, but what can I assume I’ll get for that much? I don’t know the market at all.”

“Oh, it’ll be fine. I didn’t say that because I’m trying to shake you down for extra. It’s just that I haven’t messed around with an agricultural machine before, so to be honest, there’s a bit of figuring it out as I go along. It should be cheaper than normal car parts, but if we have to pay too much out of pocket, it’s going to be difficult for us to do, so I just wanted to know how much you were able to pitch in.”

“I understand. If it looks like it’s going to run over that, let me know. I’ll consider it.”

“Gotcha. Can I ask something, too? Where’re you planning to drive that thing? Not on the roads, obviously.”

“Yeah, it’s uneven ground. There are bumps, mud, and more.”

“You’ll want it set up for off-road, then. Gotcha.”

Natsumi knew even less about the other world than Akari, so she probably thought I was going to be driving it in the mountains, or along the beach somewhere. I must’ve looked like a real weirdo.

While I was thinking about that, Akari turned and gave me a meaningful look. She probably meant to say something like, See, I’m keeping quiet about the other world, but obviously Natsumi noticed the look, and glared at me.

“What, Akari? Is something up?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.”

“No way. You were about to say something.”

“It’s nothing, okay?”

I really didn’t want to end up getting caught in the middle of an argument, so I loudly clapped my hands. “Thanks for the meal.”

“Oh! You’re more than welcome!”

“What should I do with the dishes?”

“Just leave them there. You’re the guest, Senpai.”

“Thanks. I know I’m already imposing on you, but I had one more request. Would you mind if I used the shower? I brought a towel and everything else I need.”

“Sure! You go right ahead!”

I brought the bag with my overnight kit and fled into the bathroom. Unlike in my apartment, Akari’s had a separate bath and toilet. I was kind of jealous. This beat the hell out of the modular bathroom at my place.

I quickly stripped out of my clothes and used the shower. Even if it was in someone else’s bathroom, I felt relieved to be alone. It seemed like Natsumi was jealous seeing me get closer to her childhood friend, but that was just a nuisance to me. If they were going to fight, or make up, I wanted them to do it while I wasn’t there. Please, just don’t get me involved.

Once I showered, got changed into a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in, and headed back, the dishes had been cleared away, and futons were laid out on the floor. Akari and Natsumi were sitting cross-legged on the futons, and seemed to be getting along. They were closer than before, so it looked like they’d decided to make up rather than get into a fight.

“Thanks for letting me use the bathroom. And you even got a futon out for me. Sorry for all the trouble.”

“Nahhh. You looked like you didn’t get enough sleep, so I figured you’d want to turn in for the night early.”

“Huh? But it’s still only 10:00. Won’t I be in the way, sleeping on the floor?”

“Oh, not at all. You take the bed, Senpai. Nattsun and I are going to sleep on the futons here.”

“Huh? You’re sure?”

“Of course!”

Natsumi looked up at me, as if to say, You got a problem? Seriously, what was with her?

“Oh, yeah...? Well, I’ll take you up on that, then...”

This was getting to be a hassle, so I decided to just gratefully accept that she wanted me to use the bed.

It looked like she’d changed the sheets, so it felt nice. I dived under the covers, turned my back to them, and was out like a light before the lights were even turned out.

Akari and Natsumi’s whispers behind me, and their happy giggling, followed me all the way into my dreams.

6

“...Ah, Kozakura-san. Um, I have a request. Huh? No. It’s not money. It’s not, okay? Please, just listen. Um... Could you put me up for the night?”

7

“H... Hey.”

The Kozakura who met me at the door had an even more sour look on her face than usual. “I’m not running a bed and breakfast here.”

“I’m sorry. Really.”

“You said you’re in a tight spot, so I’ll make a special exception, Sorawo-chan.”

“I’m really sorry.” I kept bowing my head apologetically as I entered Kozakura’s house.

“Let me be clear, I’m not going to do anything special to look after you.”

“That’s absolutely fine. If you have a bed for me to sleep in, and I can use the bath, that’s good enough.”

I left Akari’s place after just one night. Though Akari herself seemed fine with it, Natsumi was acting blatantly wary of me, and I couldn’t convince myself to stay there any longer. The place was an odd hybrid of hospitality and awkwardness.

Besides, I didn’t want to force the owner of a one-room apartment to sleep on the floor of her own home for days on end. I was sleep deprived yesterday, so I went out like a light in no time, but if it weren’t for that, I’d have felt so restless I couldn’t sleep. On that point, Kozakura’s house had several rooms, so even if I asked her to put me up until the situation was resolved... it was fine, right? I seemed to recall her asking me to stay the night once before when she was afraid of being alone, too.

“But where am I going to have you sleep? My room only has one bed.” Kozakura groaned, a troubled look on her face.

“Oh, I’m fine on the couch, or wherever.”

“Sleeping on a sofa wears it out quickly, you know?”

“I can even sleep on the floor.”

“If you’re fine with that, I guess that’s okay.”

I decided to go with pizza for dinner. On me. I figured that rather than do a bad job choosing a gift to bring, she’d be happier if I ordered take-out for us. That plan was right on the money. Kozakura was in a reasonably good mood as she chowed down on the limited-time, just for autumn, four-cheese pizza that I had ordered.

It was my first time setting foot in Kozakura’s combined dining room and kitchen. There was a large, plain wooden table, and four chairs. We sat across from each other, and shared the crispy crust pizza with hot cheese, eating it with our bare hands.

“I never expected to be entertaining a guest here,” Kozakura mumbled to herself, sounding emotional.

Having a combined dining room and kitchen was cool, but there wasn’t much inside it other than a large refrigerator, so the room felt desolate. A number of garbage bags stuffed full of empty plastic cola bottles were piled up in the corner.

“I guess this is too much, huh?”

“Yeah... This house has too much space for just one person.”

“Huh? Oh, no, I was talking about the pizza. I ordered two larges. That was kind of overkill, huh?”

Kozakura glared at me. “You’re a real piece of work.”

“Why?!”

“Oh, shut up. Just eat and go to sleep already.”

“It’s not even 9:00 yet!”

“Children go to bed early.”

“I’m in university! I mean, I have some reports to work on, too...”

Kozakura raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Hmm, you’re actually taking your studies seriously, huh? You can stay up, then.”

“Well, thanks,” I said grudgingly.

“How is university these days? I hear it can be pretty tough,” Kozakura suddenly asked, licking tomato sauce from her dirty fingers.

“Well, I think it’s pretty tough. The affluent kids can live off an allowance from their parents, but the rest of us have to work part-time to make ends meet. And it’s not like we get any longer on our deadlines than they do.”

“You work part-time, too, Sorawo-chan?”

“I used to. I was working a convenience store job. Things are a lot easier now that I don’t have to anymore. I have you to thank for that.”

“Hrmm...” I was trying to talk her up, but Kozakura frowned. “Well... if that means that makes it so you can focus on your studies better, I guess it’s fine.”

“But, to be honest, I’ve been thinking that maybe I could just give up on university.”

“Huh?”

“I went because I was interested in folklore, and anthropology, and that sort of stuff, but if I can explore the other world, that’s enough for me. I can live off the money I make selling the stuff I find over the—”

“Don’t do that.”

“Huh?” I was half-joking, so it caught me by surprise when Kozakura cut me off using a strong tone of voice.

The look in her eyes was more stern than usual. “If you give up your lingering ties to this world like that, you really won’t be able to come back anymore.”

“No, that’s—”

“When you’re on the brink of life and death, being attached to the idea of coming home alive can make all the difference. If you have a person you’re close with, they can act as an anchor, but both you and Toriko are more strongly attached to the Otherside than you are to this one. If you give up on your life here, the two of you are both going to go missing.”

Kozakura lowered her eyes, struggling to continue. “I wish I could be your anchor, but I know that’s not going to happen. So, please, at least take care of your daily life.”

“...”

Kozakura raised her head and glared at me. “Have I made myself clear?!”

“Ye... Yes.”

“Well, good then,” Kozakura mumbled, then tore into her pizza with a disgruntled look on her face. It was the first time she had ever scolded me like this, so I was taken aback.

But, well... it was true that I didn’t want to do anything that was going to lower my odds of survival.

“I’ll try not to cut classes.”

“You do that.”

“As much as I can.”

“Do things properly. Live a diligent life.”

I looked around the threadbare kitchen, mystified. It wasn’t like she was living a proper life herself...

Still, I had the good sense not to say that out loud.

Once she finished eating, Kozakura withdrew to her room, and I decided to take an early bath. Her bathroom had retro-style tiling and maintained sensibilities of the era in which this house was built. The ’70s, maybe? No trace remained of the cult’s attack. The shower and faucet had been replaced with new models, making them, along with the brands of shampoo here, feel out of place in the room’s Showa Era aesthetic.

While soaking in the tub for the first time in a long time, I stared up at the wave-like patterns in the plaster on the ceiling. I liked being alone, but maybe if I lived in a house this big, I’d think it was too big for one person, too. I mean, she basically only used the second floor as a storage area.

I got out of the bath and took up a seat in the dining room. While I was there, using the laptop I had brought with me to work on homework, Kozakura poked her head in.

“Sorawo-chan, are you going to sleep soon?”

“Oh, sure. In a little while.”

“You can use the bedroom.”

“Huh? But...”

“I’m going to be working until morning. I’ll take my turn sleeping once you head out.”

“You’re sure? Okay, I’ll use it then.”

“Oh, and don’t wet the bed.”

“Who do you take me for?”

Kozakura had a big bed. Queen size? I guess that’s what you’d have called it. I could roll over twice and not fall out. I hadn’t been in a bed this big since the resort on Ishigaki Island. The sheets hadn’t been changed, so they smelled like Kozakura.

I lazed around for a bit, watching videos on my phone. It was quiet, so I started getting sleepy pretty quickly. I was out cold before midnight rolled around.

When I woke up, I was sleeping on my side, and I noticed that my back felt awfully warm. I twisted my neck around to look, and there was Kozakura clinging to me, breathing softly in her sleep.

Huh...?

I stiffened at the unexpected sight.

What is she doing...?

“Um... Kozakura-san?”

“Ah!” When I called her name, Kozakura sat bolt upright, and looked around the room restlessly.

“Wh-What happened?” I asked hesitantly, and Kozakura’s head snapped around to face me.

“Sorawo-chan, please!”

“Y-Yes?”

“I’m begging you! Could you not bring weird things into my house?!”

“Huh?”

Once I got the story out of Kozakura, who was scared nearly to death, it turned out that some stuff had happened after I went to sleep.

According to her, as she was working late into the night, she heard the sound of footsteps circling the house, and the infrared sensor on the lights at the front door got triggered several times. She checked the camera to see what was going on out there, but there was nobody around. When she worked up the courage to go check that the door was locked, the whole house started to rattle. Soon, she heard whispers from the second floor, which was supposed to be empty.

At this point, Kozakura apparently picked up on the fact that whatever she was dealing with wasn’t human. She got super scared, and couldn’t handle it alone. She fled to the bed where I was sleeping, and as she was trembling, she passed out...

“This is definitely your fault, right?! And you didn’t wake up when I came in here! You were just snoring away, without a care in the world!”

“I-It’s okay now. I mean, it’s already morning.”

“It wasn’t okay at night!”

“C-Calm down...”

“You think I can calm down, you idiot?!”

“...Huh? Did you hear something just now?”

“Don’t try to change the subject!”

“No, I mean it, I—”

That’s when the door suddenly opened.

“Eeek!” Kozakura screamed and jumped on top of me.

I looked at the door in surprise, and... there was Toriko. When she saw us in bed, Kozakura clinging to me, her eyes widened.

“...What are you two doing?”

I felt weak with relief. “Toriko... Whew, you scared me.”

“Huh? Toriko...?” Kozakura separated herself from me, completely burned out, and collapsed on top of the sheets.

“Do... Don’t scare me like that, you idiot...”

“Hey, what were you two doing?”

“We weren’t doing anything. Hold on, I’m absolutely sure that the door was locked this time. How did you get in here?”

“I have a key.”

“Why?!”

“Toriko, why are you here, in Kozakura’s house, first thing in the morning?”

“Akari told me.”

“Huh?”

“You had some trouble at home, right? You stayed at Akari’s the day before yesterday, and Kozakura’s yesterday... I heard all about it.” She spoke in a flat tone of voice that I hadn’t heard from her often.

“Y-Yeah.”

“Hey. Why is it that I’m the only one you didn’t tell?” Toriko asked in a low voice.

It looked like Toriko was pretty angry with me.

8

“Listen, I said I’m sorry...”

“...”

“You told me you were busy this week, Toriko. I was trying not to get in the way.”

“...”

“Come on, I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything.”

“...”

The train sped along as Toriko refused to respond. It was 10:00 AM, and though the morning rush was over, the express train on the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line was still crowded, so Toriko and I had both been pressed into the area next to the doors. I was keeping my voice low out of consideration for those around us, but Toriko kept looking upwards, pretending she couldn’t hear me. Her eyes remained permanently fixated on a hanging advertisement for a three-day, two-night hot springs trip to Chichibu and Nagatoro.

Ugh, she can be such a pain in the butt...

After Toriko showed up, Kozakura had thrown us out of her house, angrily demanding we not get her involved. Things were still feeling awkward between us when we boarded the train at Shakujii-kouen Station. I was on the Saiky Line, and Toriko was on the Yamanote Line, so we were together as far as Ikebukuro, as per usual. Still, this was the first time I’d seen Toriko in such a bad mood. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to her.

When someone was as beautiful as her, it was intimidating to see an upset look on their face. Even for someone like me, who had gotten used to her beauty, it was scary. No, that’s a lie. I wasn’t used to it at all. With her beauty, she looked good no matter what she was doing, and she always managed to steal my attention.

Okay, I felt bad for making her feel left out, but... was that any reason to burst into another person’s house? And first thing in the morning, too...?

“I had troubles of my own to worry about, okay? There’s something crazy going on in the room next to mine. It’s like it’s the other world, or the interstitial space in there.”

When I whispered that, Toriko finally turned to look at me.

“Well, that’s even more reason that you really should have come straight to me for advice then, isn’t it? If there’s a gate there, my hand might be able to solve the problem easily, right? After all the gates you had me open and close at the Farm, there’s no way that didn’t occur to you.”

“...Well, yeah, but before I could go to you, Akari told me to stay with her for the night, so...”

“Isn’t it weird, thinking that you can’t turn to me for help, just because Akari got there first?”

She was quick to interrupt me, and I got flustered. “N-No, um, see, like I was saying, I thought you might be too busy.”

Toriko looked down at me coldly, saying nothing.

S... Scary. She’s scary, but I’m not gonna give in...!

Now that I was feeling defiant, I mustered all the willpower at my disposal and tried to look Toriko in the eye. However, when I did, Toriko turned away, and gazed out the window.

“Normally, you tell me about everything, don’t you?”

She sounded sad when she said that. It instantly dissipated that defiant spirit I’d had a moment ago, and I suddenly found myself unsure of what I should do. There wasn’t any real reason I didn’t turn to Toriko for help... I think. I had simply wanted time to sort out my feelings.

When we were about to use the gate to return from the Farm in Hannou, we encountered something weird in the Cattle Barn.

The cow with the face of a man, or man with the face of a cow—Kudan.

It had the face of my dead father.

It spoke with the voice of my dead grandmother.

That was enough to shake me up terribly. It was so bad that even once the monster was gone, I still couldn’t speak for a while.

My former family, who had fallen in with a cult, to the point they threw everything else away, and then ended up dying in the mountains. Being confronted with a part of my past that I had cast away was an entirely different kind of shock than encountering monsters in the other world.

There was someone in the other world who had identified us as individuals, and had made probing attempts to approach us before. Out of all of them, this was the one that touched the deepest into my personal life.

I’d started to forget those dead people, too.

Back then, Toriko had asked me some questions out of concern. I couldn’t answer. Even when I tried to explain, the words wouldn’t come out. I mean, what good was talking about my dead family going to do? I had told her it was a personal matter, and tried to leave it at that, but Toriko didn’t seem satisfied, and things got a little awkward.

It worked out nicely for me that Toriko got busy right around then. I wanted time to myself to calm down after the Kudan encounter threw me into emotional disarray.

But, ultimately, I wasn’t able to sort my feelings out. While Toriko was away, all I managed to do was avoid thinking about all the unpleasant things.

The train slowed as it approached the last stop in Ikebukuro. People swayed due to inertia as the brakes kicked in, and I was pressed up against Toriko.

“...Sorry.”

As I looked up awkwardly, Toriko stared back at me. I was caught off guard by how troubled she looked.

“Sorawo, listen...”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t want to stay at home...”

As she spoke, her eyes swerved away from mine again. Her words cut off mid-sentence, and her mouth hung half-open for a moment before she closed it. Her tongue peeked out, wetting the surface of her lips.

“If you can’t go to Akari’s, or Kozakura’s, and you have nowhere else to go, then, uh...”

In that moment, I suddenly understood what Toriko was struggling to say.

If I had nowhere else to go, why don’t I go to her house?—that was what she had started to say, then hesitated.

Kozakura said that Toriko and I were a lot alike. In the same way that I didn’t want to let other people into my house, I’m sure Toriko didn’t want to, either. Once I realized that, I felt terrible. I didn’t want to make Toriko show me so much concern.

Talking over her, I said, “It’s fine. I’m going to be okay.”

“Huh? But...”

“Don’t worry about me. Thanks.”

Toriko looked like she was still going to say more, so I jokingly said, “Hey, why don’t you come stay at my place? Haha, just ki—”

“I’ll come over.”

“Huh?”

I blinked in surprise. It was like she had been waiting to say those words. Toriko continued, even more powerfully. “I’ll come over. I’m going to stay at your place.”

“Huh...?”

The train slid into the station as my mind raced to catch up. The door on the opposite side opened, and a wave of people surged out. My body freed from the crush, I took a step backwards, away from Toriko.

Toriko stood where she was, her eyes never leaving me as she said once more, “I’m coming over.”

“Y... Yeah.”

As I nodded, overwhelmed by her intensity, there was a rush of air as the doors on our side of the car opened.

9

This wasn’t the first time that I had brought Toriko to the station near my house. We took the bus from Minami-Yono on the Saikyo Line when we went to Natsumi’s house during the Sannukikano incident, too. But on that day, I walked with her to the station, we ate, and then split up after that. Neither of us suggested she might come to my place.

Today, we ignored the bus stop near the Ichikawa Automobile Repair Shop, and kept going. Toriko sat next to me in the stiflingly narrow bus seats, as if that were the most natural thing to do. It felt kind of weird.

I grew more and more tense as we got closer to my place.

“It’s fine if you want to stay the night, but... What are you going to do for a change of clothes?”

“I’ve got one.”

“Why?”

“I always have one in my bag. You do, too, Sorawo.”

“Oh, right...”

We never knew when we might wander into the other world, so we tried to keep a change of clothes on us at the bare minimum. If she had that and a towel, she’d be fine for a one-night stay. When I stayed at Kozakura’s yesterday and Akari’s the day before, I had packed my overnight set into a small travel bag, so I’d had a little more baggage than usual.

We got off the bus close to the university and walked through the residential area a little ways. Yeah, this really did feel weird. It was strange walking these same paths I always did, only with Toriko at my side this time.

Toriko didn’t talk much. She was looking around the area as we walked. Every time we turned a corner, she looked back. It was the same way she acted when we went into a new place in the other world. She was trying to remember the way...

We turned the last corner and stopped in front of the apartment. It was a fresh experience for me, seeing my home under the midday sun. The fact that Toriko was standing there with me made me feel like I was floating, detached from ordinary life.

“This the place?”

“Yeah?”

“Which room?”

“102.”

“And which room is the one that’s weird?”

“The one in the back. 103.”

Toriko nodded, then thrust her hand into her bag.

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t just shoot the place up out of nowhere, okay? I won’t be able to live here anymore.”

“I know. This is just in case.”

“Just in case, huh?”

We entered the corridor and walked in front of my apartment. Toriko’s eyes were trained on the door to Room 103.

“Can we... just go into my room for now?”

“Okay.”

I turned the key, and went to open the door, but this time Toriko hurriedly stopped me. “Whoa, you’re being so careless.”

“Huh?”

“There could be an ambush.”

“I-I think it’ll be okay.”

“When they’re already in the next room?”

“...You have a point.”

Now that she mentioned it, she was right. The strong desire I had for my home to be a safe space might have been stopping me from making level-headed judgments. But if something was in there, what was I supposed to do? If I lost my safe space, I had no idea where to go...

Noticing I had gone silent, Toriko looked at me with concern. “You okay? Do you want me to look inside for you?”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. She was going to be coming inside anyway. “Could you?”

“Okay. You keep an eye out in case anyone comes along.”

“Okay.”

Toriko narrowed her eyes, pulling the Makarov from her bag, and holding it close to her bosom, like she was hugging it.

“Hey, hold on.”

“Just in case.”

“Seriously, I’m counting on you here.”

“Okay. Open the door.”

I turned the knob, and the door opened wide.

Toriko peeked in through the door for just a moment, then swiftly pulled away, holding her gun out close to her chest, and entered the room once more.

The light shining in through the door shone on the kitchen floor. The curtains in the six-mat room in the back were drawn, and it was a little dark inside.

Toriko walked into the kitchen without taking off her shoes.

“Whaaaa...”

While I was still flustered, Toriko turned on the lights in my bathroom, and peeked inside. Then, heading straight to the back of the room, she pulled open the curtains. Outside light shone in and lit the room up.

I lost sight of Toriko for a moment, and the next thing I heard was the sound of my closet doors being opened. Whoa... Have some mercy, Toriko, I thought. I don’t think there was anything in there that I’d be worried if she saw, though...

Toriko returned the gun to her bag, then came back to me.

“Looks clear to me. Sorry about the shoes.”

“Nah, it’s fine.”

Toriko and I both took off our shoes, and headed inside the room. I used a little broom I’d bought at the 100 yen shop to sweep up the dirt Toriko had tracked in and threw it outside. When I came back in and closed the door, Toriko was standing in the middle of the room, a slightly dazed look on her face.

“What’s up?”

“...This is really something, huh?”

Toriko was looking at my bookshelf. With the rare exceptions of books I used at university and some Sanrio character books, it was filled more or less from top to bottom with books about true ghost stories. Titles from Media Factory, Kadokawa Horror Bunko, Yama-kei Publishers... I had everything from famous books, to older ones that I had hunted down at second-hand shops. The largest segment of the collection by area had to be Takeshobo Bunko’s white spines. There were hundreds of volumes, all with unsettling words like “Terror,” “Hex,” “Ghost,” “Curse,” “Burial,” and “Bizarre” in their names. Looking at all of them lined up like this, it seemed incredibly ominous.

“You don’t have nightmares sleeping next to books like these?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve gotten used to them.”

“You know, I was looking forward to seeing just what kind of bookshelf you had...”

“Does it live up to your expectations?”

“I didn’t think you’d gone this far.” Toriko looked at me as if she wanted to ask something.

“What?”

“I know it’s a bit late to ask now, but you don’t mind someone seeing your room?”

Yeah, it really is a bit late, I thought, but answered anyway. “I thought about it a lot, and... Well, if it’s you, I’m fine with it.”

“If it’s me?”

“I’d never want anyone else to.”

“Why? Because you don’t want them to see this bookshelf?”

You’re pretty weirded out then, huh?

“That’s not the problem. I want this to be a place where I can feel at ease. I don’t want to have to be considerate and think about other people’s feelings in my own home.”

“Does that mean it’s okay for me to be here?”

“It means I can tolerate you being here.”

“Heheh.” Toriko let out a goofy chuckle. “It’s hard to know how I should interpret that.”

“It’s high praise, coming from me.”

“Okay, I’ll be happy about it.”

I threw the travel bag that was still slung over my shoulder onto the bed.

“You put down your bag, too, Toriko.”

“Sure.”

All right.

We both looked towards the wall I shared with Room 103 in unison.

“What do you think we should do?” Toriko asked, pulling her gun out of her bag as she did.

“I already told you...”

“I know. No guns, right?”

“No guns.”

“But we’re still going, aren’t we? To the room next door. I just can’t see you waiting for them to come to us.”

She knows me well.

It was true that I planned to go to Room 103 before they came to us. I was going to open that door, and walk inside. I fully intended to mess the place up.

“...Well, we don’t know if the door’s locked or not yet.”

“That’s true. If we can’t get in... Why don’t we head out for a bit and get some lunch? We never even had breakfast.”

“Okay... All right. Let’s go, then.”

10

Ding dong...

Ding dong...

Di-di-di-di-ding dong. Ding dong. Ding dong...

No matter how many times we rang the bell, there was no response from Room 103.

“Toriko, if we overdo it, people are going to come out of the other rooms.”

“Huh? People in other rooms can hear this?”

“This building is every bit as run-down as it looks.”

Toriko reached down and grabbed the doorknob. She slowly turned her gloved hand. “It’s not locked.”

She stopped and turned back to me. I nodded, and Toriko cautiously turned the knob.

“Urgh...” Toriko and I groaned in unison. There was an intense stench coming from the open gap in the door.

“What is this...? Did someone die?” Toriko asked.

“No, this isn’t the smell of something rotting...” I had smelled something like this before. Just recently, too.

It didn’t take long to remember.

“...It’s the Farm.”

The beastly stench of feces, urine, and grime all mixed together assaulted my nose.

It was the same stink as the Cattle Barn at the Farm.

The door opened wide. Outside light shone in, illuminating a pile of dust and cobwebs in the corner of the floor.

“Is anyone there?” Toriko called out. No response. It looked like the room was, in fact, empty. The kitchen was bare of dishes, and there wasn’t even a gas burner. There was nothing but the stench of some animal wafting out of the vacant room. The frosted glass doors between the kitchen and the room in the back were closed, and it was dark behind them.

I realized Toriko was looking at me with concern. “Sorawo, are you all right?”

“...Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re looking pale.”

I shook my head, dismissing the memories of the Kudan and the cow woman that the smell was dredging up.

“Sorawo—”

“I... I’m fine. It just stinks.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Let’s go in.”

For now, at least, there was nothing weird within my right eye’s field of vision. I entered Room 103, gesturing for Toriko to do the same.

This time, I didn’t hesitate to leave my shoes on, either. I gently opened the door to the bathroom. I tried the light switch, but maybe power wasn’t connected, because the lights didn’t turn on. Shining the flashlight I always carried with me around, I found a number of thin metal plates had been left in the bottom of the tub. The way there were screws all over them reminded me of the glimpse I caught of the “resident” of Room 103’s wrist when they were opening the door.

Leaving the bathroom, I put my hand on the glass door. I signaled to Toriko with my eyes, and opened the door, then came very close to screaming.

Toriko must have been able to see what I was seeing, too, because I heard her inhale sharply.

It looked like there was a person sitting in the middle of the dimly lit room. They were facing away from us, with long hair dangling down their back.

“Wh-Who—?!”

No. I didn’t need to ask that, because if I thought about it with a clear head, they were obviously an illegal trespasser, but that was the word that immediately came out of my mouth.

The figure sat there, unmoving. I turned the light on it and, as I stared, I finally realized what was wrong.

“Sorawo, stand back.”

Toriko tried to put herself in front of me, but I put out a hand to stop her.

“Toriko, it’s not human.”

“Huh?”

“This thing... It’s just hair.”

I was wrong about there being a person sitting there. A wooden tension rod was standing there with a long-haired wig hanging off of it.

In front of it was an old mirror stand. That was all there was in the room.

“Oh, this is—!” I recognized it immediately. I had read about this setup in a net lore story called Pandora, or Kinkisaki.

Pandora was an account of the terror that some children encountered when they went into an abandoned house in the countryside. Those that opened the drawers of the mirror stand that was left there, and looked at what was inside, lost their minds and never recovered. The cause was a special ritual performed in that family which used fingernails, teeth, and hair as a catalyst. It brought about a curse that harmed not only the family themselves, but their immediate neighbors, too.

Though the name of the person that hair belonged to was sometimes given as Kinkisaki, that was just one potential reading of the characters “禁后”. The actual reading was a secret.

“Toriko, don’t open the drawers. I swear, nothing good will come of it.”

“...Roger.”

I looked at the mirror stand with my right eye. A silver phosphorescence was leaking out from beneath the cloth that covered the mirror.

“I knew this was it.”

I carefully pulled back the sheet, and the silver phosphorescence spread out, dimly lighting up the area. The exposed mirror had turned into a gate. It was a peephole into the other world—one too small for a person to pass through.

I peered through the mirror. When I focused with my right eye, my own mirror reflection faded, and I could see the other side of the gate more clearly.

There was a house. It stood there, alone. A horribly-aged two-story building on a road with nothing but rice paddies. I circled around the house, but there was no front entrance.

A glass sliding door on the first floor was shattered to pieces, and I was able to enter through there. I moved from the living room, which had no furniture, into the dimly lit hallway. There were stairs leading up to the second floor on the right. Looking left, there was a mirror standing in the hallway and a woman sitting in front of it. Her back was turned to me, her face buried in her hands. The woman wept endlessly, doing nothing but stuffing the voluminous black hair that she was holding into her mouth.

There were a number of children standing down the hall, past the mirror stand, staring wordlessly at the woman. They all carried backpacks and were dressed like they were headed out on an excursion.

The stench of some animal caught my attention. I turned, and saw someone climbing the stairs from behind. Following them up to the second floor, there were two doors, one of which was open. Inside, there was another mirror stand. Beside it stood a Red Person, so tall their head nearly touched the ceiling.

The Red Person pointed to the mirror stand. In the lower portion of it, there were three drawers.

I opened the bottom one. Inside, there was a piece of paper. It had a word I didn’t know the reading for written on it. I opened the second drawer. Inside, there was a piece of paper.

The Red Person watched over me.

With mercy. And tolerance.

Like a mother.

I knew the word written on the paper was a person’s name.

A woman’s name.

If I opened the third drawer, I would know its reading.

That was because there was another piece of paper inside.

It carried the name’s hidden reading.

The reading of the forbidden name.

The true name.

It was my name.

The soul of the woman it was given to had left this word, and been welcomed to eternal paradise.

Look. I raised my face, and the women who, like me, had learned their true name looked back at me. They smiled happily, placidly, and in unison they mooed, and mooed. The shijiru cry of a penitent cow.

“Sorawo!!”

The vision before my eyes distorted rapidly, crumpling up like a wad of paper.

Toriko’s left hand had grabbed and torn the gate in the mirror stand; the silver phosphorescence splattered all over. Her five translucent fingers had torn holes into not just the gate, but the glass, too. The glass shattered in her clenched fist, and there was a sound like a splash of water as she crushed it.

“Sorawo! Can you hear me? Do you recognize me?”

I sat there in a daze as she shook me, her face pale with worry. “...Wha.”

I tried to speak, then cleared my throat. It felt so dry. Like I had been screaming for a long time.

“What? What happened?” Once I managed to get my voice back, Toriko collapsed on the spot.

“Whew...”

“Huh? What? What?” From Toriko’s reaction, whatever the situation was, it must have been pretty horrifying. But no matter how much I tried to remember, the memory of what I’d seen beyond the gate faded, like a dream when you wake up in the morning. I could hardly recall anything.

“You froze up when you looked into the mirror, Sorawo. It was like you were looking at something really bad, so I...” Toriko unclenched her fist, and the remaining shards of glass fell to the ground with a tinkle.

“I broke it... That was okay, right?”

Now that she mentioned it, I noticed the general atmosphere of the room had changed. The animal smell had vanished. I couldn’t detect it at all. There was a small mound of broken wood and shattered glass where the mirror stand had been.

I looked around the room with my right eye. “I think it’s fine.”

“Then... The problem’s solved? This room is clear?”

I nodded. “Probably. The gate’s been completely destroyed.”

That was probably because she smashed the prop that it was using as a catalyst. If placing a piece of set dressing from a ghost story could artificially open a gate to the other world, like Runa Urumi’s cult had done at the Farm, then it made sense that smashing that catalyst would destroy the gate.

“Thank goodness...” Toriko said, sounding truly relieved. I noticed red drops on her translucent left hand, and my eyes went wide.

“Toriko, you’re bleeding!”

“...Ohh,” Toriko said—as if just noticing for herself—and looked down at her translucent left hand.

She’d cut herself on the mirror shards.

Trying to save me.

Without thinking, I grabbed her hand. Crimson droplets quivered on her translucent skin.

It was beautiful.

“...It bleeds red, huh?”

“I’m glad it’s not invisible. Then I wouldn’t be able to tell if I was bleeding,” Toriko quietly replied to my mumbling. She gently pulled her hand away from me and brought it up to her mouth. I watched her lips, entranced, as she sucked the blood from her wound.

She lowered her arm.“Can you stand?” she asked embarrassedly.

That brought me back to my senses, and I finally stood up. “Does it hurt? Is it deep?”

“It’s nothing major. I just cut myself a little.”

“Let’s head back and wash it out. There could be shards of glass inside it still,” I said, turning towards the door, and when I did I noticed something off about the light shining in through it.

That was clearly the yellow-toned light of evening.

“Toriko... How many hours were we here?”

“Huh? Hours? It hasn’t even been ten minutes... Or it shouldn’t have...” Toriko noticed something was up, too, and her words trailed off.

When we left Room 103, we were greeted by what was unmistakably a sunset scene. I checked a clock. It was 5:00 PM, despite the fact that it hadn’t even been noon yet when we entered the room.

As we looked at one another, perplexed by this inexplicable phenomenon, my stomach loudly grumbled.

There was a moment of silence, broken when Toriko said, “...We missed lunch.”

“It’s already nighttime.”

“Want to go out and eat? I’m in the mood for drinks.”

“There aren’t many options around here, you know?”

“Okay, in that case... Let’s go to the store and buy some stuff, then have drinks back at your place.”

Drinking at home, huh...? This was a new direction for Toriko’s after-party series.

“You’re fine with going to a regular supermarket?”

“Sure.”

Autumn days were short. By the time we had washed Toriko’s cut, put a bandage on it, and were ready to head out, it was nearly dark.

As we headed to the supermarket in the well-lit residential district—I had a sudden realization.

I’d stayed in the same room as Toriko before. In the “New York-style” pension in Naha, and at the resort hotel on Ishigaki Island. Now that Toriko was staying the night at my place, I was suddenly reminded of what she wore to bed those two times. In the resort hotel, the room had come with bathrobes, so she wore one of those. But the first time, at the pension, Toriko had been sleeping in the buff. I distinctly remembered her saying something silly, like she slept naked when she was in the mood to.

And I didn’t have bathrobes at my place.

I know she had said she’d brought a change of clothes, but those were probably the clothes she’d be wearing tomorrow, not a pair of pajamas.

“What’s up?”

Toriko gave me a worried look as I got very quiet.

I looked back at her, still silent. I couldn’t possibly have asked—“Are you going to sleep with your clothes off tonight?”