1\Hide(R)
*
I may not be one to talk, but...
That was simultaneously the best and worst reintroduction to society.
“There. You can leave today.”
Ms. Mato said and left, stating she's got something to do and that we'll meet again soon.
Woah, wasn't that too easy?
I thought some trouble was bound to crop up, but the clinic handled it all in a blink of eye. It was like an in house deal.
“Don't you think it all happened too quickly, Doc?”
One hour before my discharge. I went to Dr. Dolittle's confessional to say my goodbyes and ended up lazing around for a bit.
“Isn't that great? Touma is courteous to you in a way. She's kind to those in fragile positions.”
“Ew, that's such an obvious lie. I'm worried about you, Doc. You've got no woman sense.”
If that's what's called being kind to the downtrodden, then Ms. Mato failed to express the sentimentality. Maybe, she's the possessed one?
“Well, let's talk about Touma some other time. Instead, let's get back to what you wanted advice on, since you came here.”
“Bingo. I've lived in this health center for so long that I became self-contained. I want to talk with others without a care, but you see...”
“Ha-ha-ha. 'I just can't integrate into society.' - was your complaint when you first came here.”
“It isn't funny. I'm still no good at it. Well, I'm going to go outside. Everyone's doing their best, striving for glory, for success... I can get the gist, it's enough to live a normal life. I've been told that if I just started striving for it myself, I'd integrate somehow. But... I can't even pretend. Sounds awfully girlish, doesn't it? Ms. Mato's scolding didn't help, so I'm looking for hope in some kind words now.”
“There's the problem. You are going to have to pretend... After all, that's just human motivation, for man to curb man. Whether one's striving for glory, money, or power, one's doing it because he sincerely wants to be acknowledged by others. 'How successful am I compared to others?', or, 'I want to show my value'. Get it?”
“I know. But I can't see any of that as necessary.”
“ Obviously. You don't even put any worth in yourself.”
“...”
Looks like I failed somewhere. Dolittle really got to me, today.
“Listen. someone who wasn't loved selflessly - a human, pressured by society, has already lost his value, in a way. He wasn't loved, so he couldn't find a place in life. He can't even imagine that he has worth. For all his life he's been looking down.”
“That deficiency, that negative trait, cannot be compensated,” - he continues. - “man himself can't reconcile that error.”
Dolittle stayed silent for a while.
“There is only one answer. If you can't find it yourself, you have to get in touch with one who acknowledges your worth. You don't need self-confidence, you need someone that needs you. Search for it, with your life on the line. You should live for that purpose.”
“...”
What a climax. I underestimated the good ol' Doc. I can't even blush before such theatrics. This man, named after a literature hero, was, without a doubt, a genius. Well, it doesn't matter. I was moved, a bit, by Dolittle's words. I don't really get them, but he pushed me in the right direction. Made the situation crystal clear.
“So I have to search for my soulmate? Is there really such a convenient person out there?”
“ Ha-ha-ha, I can't promise that. Did you make any friends in the clinic?”
"Yes"
With a cheerful smile, Dolittle replies:
“Then it's okay, you've got plenty chances!”
The problem with that is... I've made friends, but what's the point if I forget about them? And I'll most likely forget them.
“Oh, it seems that they're calling for us. You need to head up to the roof of building A. If you want me to, I can keep you company until we reach the helipad. Would you like some help carrying all of your stuff, looks pretty heavy for just you.”
“Nah, I'm not a child, and it's only one bag. But, was it just my imagination, or did I just hear something cool? Like, 'helipad'.”
“Ms. Touma didn't tell you? You can only get to this clinic by air. The roof is like the main entrance.”
“Got it. Guess you wouldn't have any escapees that way.”
Anyway, I'm slowly understanding it now. This was no clinic. This was purgatory.
*
A-syndrome carriers can't move to another prefecture. The dangerous ones are under strict national control, observation, and guidance, so I was sent back to my old hometown right after my discharge, Shikura town in prefecture C.
To summarize: A helicopter ride then a three hours drive by car. I thought I'd be blindfolded or something, but nope, it was just a normal ride. Like I was jusr some juvenile delinquent on parole. Even though the scenery quickly changed, even though it only took three hours to be back to my good old home, I still felt the disconnected reality of those isolated buildings. It still felt so real, even though you can get to the other world in just a couple of hours.
“Since your relatives refused to accept you,” - the black suit and shades, hedgehog hair man sitting near me, explains - “You're going to an establishment. We'll destroy your driving license and bring the registration and insurance papers for that circumstance tomorrow.”
The government was allocating residences to A-syndrome carriers, and to their victims. Something like a municipal apartment. An old municipal dorm for victims and the poor was refurbished for our needs. Well, I'm saying our needs, but I was the only rehabilitated carrier there. Maybe some others would show up later, but for the most part it was still a project for the impoverished.
The rent for a flat was a four digit number, ten times lower than the norm, one that any landlady would be astonished by. For carriers lacking the ability to get a job a small stipend is given for living expenses. Another bonus is the hedgehog-medical expert neighbor, that does an investigation when something unpleasant happens.
“Well, I'll leave the rest of it to the manager. Also, once a day, at 9 AM or at 6 PM, call this number.”
Forgetting to mention the most important part, what happens if you don't call, the hedgehog left.
I grumble, fix the bag in my hand, and look at the crumbling building. A six-story building made of concrete and metal, the windows were caving inwards. By the looks of it, there were eight apartments to each floor. The entrance narrow, desolate and dirty. The air was incredibly musty, only yakuza would hang out in a place like this.
“Hm, not bad.”
Compared to that hospital, Neither the outside, nor inside, not even the dirt mattered at all. Yahoo, congratulations! Goodbye, gray clinic! My new life starts here, in this mouldering happy flophouse number 13 in Shikura town!
“Ahh, a newcomer? Well... I won't say a thing even if you look like a demon, but no problems, alright? Here's your key. Lights and water will be on tomorrow, so no complaints today.”
The beautiful new page of my life was ruined in a matter of seconds.
“What an unfriendly old woman...”
Regardless, it's all good.
With such a negligent watch, with such a negligent supervisor, I just have to stay inside, and she won't come to my apartment. I started humming a song from such good fortune while heading up to third floor. There were no numbers on the doors, but my door had decided to tell me about its thirty year old history with a screech.
“Oh? You're the newcomer?”
I had been in a battle with the doorknob at the moment, which refused to turn, when some guy leisurely walked up to me. Amazingly cordial for such a place, he could be from a paradise island; wearing makeup, and looking somewhere around thirty....
Dude, don't wear that Hawaiian shirt, it suits you too well.
“Wow, I finally have a neighbor! I'm Niijima, what's your name?”
“Hi. I'm Ishizue. Name's Arika, but it's written as shozai.”
“Oh. You got a stupidly-childish name, huh. He-he-he,” - laughs Niijima.
Later, we'll get to learn how his name is much more idiotic, but that's a story for another time.
“Glad to make an acquaintance. If I need something, can I ask you?”
“Sure. Ah, how great, the young people decorate the house. Though Arika-chan, you're slightly not my type~”
That's cool. Gay people in Hawaiian shirts are slightly not my type either.
***
The first month passed so quickly that I blinked and it was gone.
I'm going for the casual shopping. Surveys[*] around the building, full freedom after job search. I got so carried away with the preparations for my new life that I forgot what to do. I slightly regret relaxing so much. I just kept avoiding my old acquaintances, my old pathways, kept on guard and guarding myself, and thus forgot the most important thing.
“Yeah... I should have head back home at least once.”
The Ishizue residence is a mansion on Shikura hill's second block. Separated from the opposite block by a station, it takes about an hour to get there on foot, twenty minutes on a bus and less than fifteen minutes by car.
The Town might seem like a narrow place, but it's actually pretty wide. You don't tend to be interested in citizens on the other side of the station, unless you're acquainted with them – that's just the way of a modern society. Of course - we live near a single shop, but we only go to work, home, out for food. And for class, to the bar, book shop and mall. That's really all there is to it.
That's why I didn't have a reason to come back to Ishizue residence, but I figured I should at least do it once, so as to not regret never going. Covered by the dark of night, I walk towards Shikura hill.
Shikura Hill - it wasn't just a name, a perpetually sleepy district is built here, and precisely at midnight everyone's already fast asleep.
I walk under the street lights. Hmm, Kizaki, Ishimori, Yamanashi, Ishizue. Maybe everyone has insomnia or something, because the lights are on everywhere. Only the Ishizue mansion is drowned in darkness.
“Tch. Closed...”
That should've been obvious, if one thought about it. But since I came all the way here, I don't feel like going back empty-handed, and no one's around anyway. Walking to the back of the mansion, I placed a hand against the kitchen window and it opens instantly. Talk about amazing luck. I didn't have to break any windows or bother the neighbors... Of course, I wouldn't have minded saying hi to the people that'd come running, but it's easy to imagine their reaction to me. I'm not used to a life with one hand, and I don't feel like adding more stress on top of that.
“Well, hello there, home sweet home.”
I came inside the house, empty from since that event happened.
“Hmm? Wow, everything's been cleaned up. Wasn't there a sea of blood here?”
They had restored it all and were waiting until everything settled down..? Then my room's got to be cleaned too. I walk up to the second floor. The door leading to my room was brand new. Well yeah, I heard Mato blew it off with a shotgun.
“Whoa, it's completely untouched!”
I looked at the space that had been Ishizue Arika's room some time ago.
I fell on bed and looked up at ceiling.
“Oh, bullet holes.”
These construction workers, need to stop slacking off! You won't get a good price off of this.
*
I spent about three hours at home, satisfying my nostalgia. If one looked around the house, they could see how it was before. I left behind that, shortly mine, and now newly decorated home. I have a new life too. And this house won't remain untouched for long.
Whatever. It doesn't concern me anyway.
*
Two more months passed, and I became used to my new life.
I grew attached to my 2DK-apartment already, and caught on to how to live in this town. Not too comfortable, but enough for living normally.
There was just one problem left.
While in isolation, Ishizue Arika was, out of his own volition, trying out arm prostheses, and not a single one fit, leaving him one-handed. But since he's discharged now, the problem would probably be a bother to him.
Maybe it's pointless, but I can't just ignore that.
For starters, I paid a visit to a neighboring medical doctor and told him my requirements for a prosthesis, and was heading home. When suddenly... In the rusty mailbox I spot a suspicious piece of mail.
“No sender, nothing...”
A big envelope. Tightly sealed, and it looks quite expensive, the type they send cash in. Puzzled, I headed back to my room, laid on bed and opened the envelope. An unhealthy amount of 10000-yen notes appeared... but the feeling I got, it was closer to confusion than elation.
“...”
Trying not to think about anything, I counted the notes. Eighty of them, more than my yearly salary.
“Throwing this out would be... too hasty, I did borrow some money from Niijima-chan...”
Oh good grief, I had no money after being discharged, of course. The tragedy where poverty is born. How sometimes you have to bear with the obvious root of evil!
“But giving it to police would be problematic as well...”
I could leave this sort of thing in my memory, but not in my notes. My life would be ruined.
“I guess I can just watch the turn of events for about half a month...”
That's how it ended up. Seeing how it all was obviously a mistake, I'll just take care of the money for now. If an owner was found, I'd just return it to them. An besides half a year after you pick up something it becomes yours, anyway.
“Eh? Or was it a year? And was it the whole amount?”
Well, that was a trifle matter. Because the following month, at the exact same time, pushed right into the mailbox, the same kind of envelope appeared before me.
*
“Arika, are you involved with some bad company?”
“No, good morning.”
A bad way to start the day. Knocking at my door like hitting it like a sandbox, Mr. Niijima, right after seeing me, asked, as if to scold me for my sleepy look. With all those mysterious envelopes it's me who wants to ask the questions...
“Do you have some business with me, Niijima? I was going to have breakfast.”
“Oh wow, just in time! Great, Arika, it will be a fun breakfast!”
“I don't get you... Just say what you have to say and leave, Niijima.”
“Yeah, yeah. Arika, you're looking for a hand prosthesis, right? You have a guest that wants to talk to you about that.”
“Huh..?”
I violently scratched back of my head. Coming to these slums just for that... Does that trader really have nothing to do?
“I don't like this. Is he waiting in the lobby?”
“Nope, in the Marion on the opposite side of the street. Oh, you'll barely make it for the continental!”
“I guess... normally it wouldn't be fine, but I guess I don't mind eating continental at the Marion.”
For free, to top it off.
I quickly got dressed, walked past the guard booth - empty, as usual - and into the corridor.
On the opposite side of building 13 there is an unexpectedly stylish cafe Marion.
Thing is, the average price there is as much as 800 yen.
"Welcome", I was greeted by a gallant cafe owner, and I entered. I found the trader without much hassle, there was only one new face here, afterall.
“Hello, I'm Ishizue. Are you selling the arm prostheses?”
“Yes. My name's Yamada. Good morning, Ishizue.”
A male, about forty years old. Nothing distinctive, the usual sort of gentleman. I asked for a morning set and sat across from him.
“So, which clinic are you from?”
I ordered the prostheses about a month ago, they all should come later.
“No, I'm not from a clinic. I'm coming here on a different matter, so to say. I heard you're looking for a quality prosthesis.”
Wow. Of course Niijima would act suspiciously, this gentleman was an over the top suspicious type.
“I'm listening. Say it already.”
I was ready to answer "no", but this gentleman was going to pay for my already ordered morning set.
His speech crossed the border of suspicious and quickly became a little hilarious.
Long story short: On Shikura's outskirts lives a kid - an owner of unique arm and leg prostheses, and his artificial arm might fit Ishizue? That's it. I don't have anywhere to get money from for that obviously expensive prosthesis, but that kid was looking for a sitter, or a steward or whatever, so if I became his steward, I might get to wear it for free.
“Yeah... So, how do you know that?”
“I was helping the child until yesterday. Though, sadly, I got my settlement.”
he said in a gloomy voice.
“You mean you were fired? Heee... I won't ask why, but why tell me?”
Normally you get mad if you're fired.
“The thing is that, of course, I could forget that all, but I still pity that child. I want to find a substitute to take my place, at least. Or else I'll be tormented by my consciousness.”
The gentleman explained a steward's work and salary. Well, putting the credibility aside, two hundred thousand per month for that sort of work was not at all bad. And the fact I won't meet any of my old acquaintances was just the icing on the cake.
“I still have a question. Why me? It's strange to talk to someone like me, don't you think?”
“That kid is just like you. Possessed.”
Ahh. That's how it is. Then, yeah, it's reasonable to ask me. Who else would willingly look after a carrier?
“Isn't he a hell-raiser, though?”
“Won't even move a finger. I guarantee your safety. As soon as you see him, you'll understand.”
I was getting even more curious. I kept asking questions while I finished my morning set, and I even asked for another cup of tea.
So, I decided to take a look at the workplace. I don't really need the money, but finding both work and a prosthesis at the same time, I thought was impossible. And that kid lives in Shikura outskirts, on a private property... She was obviously some ridiculously rich girl. I promised to visit her tomorrow and stood up.
“Thanks. Then I'll give you one more piece of advice from an experienced person.”
The gentleman smiled, and puts his hands together in a manner of a prayer.
“The kid loves people very much, he won't get mad at any mean thing you tell him, at any attitude you give him. But remember, no matter how close you are, never tell him one thing...”
I got chills. This courteous everyday gentleman unpleasantly moved the corners of his mouth...
“Never, under no circumstances suggest the kid to go outside. As soon as you say something of the like, you'll irreversibly turn into his absolute, full-fledged enemy.”
... and smiled, like a devil.
***
Shikura is a town of extremities. It looks like a middle-sized city from the railroad station, but the office buildings are only built near the town center, and it's surrounded by forests and fields. Walking from the station to the direction of residential array on Shikura hill, I pass the border of the residential area, fields and parks appeared before me, as far as the eye could see.
And so... was this prosaic city, with forests growing here and there, and in one of those forests lives a kid, the owner of the hand prosthesis.
After going as far as I could on the bus, I got off and went into the forest, too big to just be private property. There were street lights marking the road, and soon I arrived to the place I sought after.
The building, resembled a huge die. On a clearing stood a cube of a building, sized about ten meters in three dimensions. Yamada... fake name, probably... told me the reservoir is filled with water.
The steel door wasn't locked. Inside it wass dark, sunlight lighting the stairway to basement. Unusually deep.
“Creepy. And it's not even building D.”
I'm more or less able to see, though. "Dragons live here", I felt with a chill. The ability to discern the unknown and death is a common human trait.
“I had already agreed for a personal meeting though...”
Promiscuity in actions was very like Ishizue Arika, but I made a promise and I had to keep it. Can't change it for fear alone.
I went downstairs, and the door closed. By itself! I went down the pitch black corridor, walked quickly to a door and blindly searched for an object resembling a handle. The classic door opens with a screech.
At the same moment...
“Ahh...”
... I looked up. For the first time in my life, I feel what they called fate. Yeah, I'm don't have the right to make jokes about Dolittle anymore. This room was ancient. Like a dark, uninhabited room, taken alone from a medieval castle.
The floor was laid out in a chessboard style. Brick walls. Expensive furniture. The corner of the room had some random stuff stacked. There was nothing like electric lamps, the ceiling was made of glass, in a manner similar to an aquarium. The Sun lit the underground room, waving the rays in water.
“Hello. Are you Ishizue Arika?”
From the direction of a bed with a canopy in a middle of the room, I hear a voice.
I get chills all over my back. I almost forgot who I was for a second there, but getting a hold of myself I got closer to the bed. I wanted to see, clearly see, who was the owner of this otherworldly beautiful voice.
“Oh, can you stop there please? Wow, really single-handed, just as I was told.”
A meter from the bed, I'm stopped.
Behind the vail dropped from a canopy, a figure in bed, a figure...
“Woooooooah!!!”
W-w-what a cutie! What's that, who's that, how's that, do people like that even exist?! I met and saw a lot of charming ladies, but never such a breathtaking beauty! So fantasy happens in real world too?
“He-ey... You're Ishizue Arika-san, right?”
The Black-haired girl looked at me, troubled.
... My mind was melting. And so, deep in the featherbed, there was a girl about fourteen years old. Rare light-gray eyes, absolutely black hair. Pajamas, ones you'd never get to wear, giving an impression of a very expensive doll.. her abnormally small body gives off excess likehood with a doll...
“What the...”
At that point, my raging mind freezes. It's not a small body. It's a lacking body.
No.
Completely not.
This beautiful doll doesn't have limbs at all.
I finally understand why am I going to be an attendant. And, to say, she can't even move, let aside harm anyone.
Such perfection. It completely threw me off balance.
Who can even think of taking a creature like that outside? The girl and this room are complete. A girl without limbs. A forest people don't walk in. A basement under an aquarium. An ideally separated world, in a good sense. It's wonderful. Now I understand, I had to do it like that too!..
“Ishizue? Ah, right. The prosthesis first, right? Can you wait a bit, please? My mood got worse somehow. It was on a table just now...”
The girl alone can, at most, raise her head a bit.
Unwillingly, I look around.
Under the sofa there is a doberman-like dog with a bored look. Even when I entered, it kept sleeping, uninterested.
The room suddenly got darker. I raised my head up, and I saw a fish, like a shark, covering the sun.
... I don't know where to start thinking. The ceiling is glass, right? And there's a ten meter layer of water there. The water is very transparent, can fish actually live there? And why a shark, actually?
“Well, there you have it. Looks like the appropriate hand prosthesis is sleeping at the moment. We can't have a deal like that...”
The black-haired girl, with a sad look, averts her eyes. Wait just a second, girl, you make too good of an impression! Any man, respecting himself, would jump on her, hugging, or maybe choking, because it just can't be true.
“Nah, I'll do it. I just have to take care of you, right?”
“You don't need the details?”
“Nah. I'll take it. Job's easy.”
I'm still scared, to be honest. Dogs, sharks... This room was wrong. But the girl's beauty includes that fear, for sure.
“I understand. You might've thought like, "He's scary", but thank you, Ishizue. You probably know it already, but my name's Karyou Kaie. Glad to meet you, I hope our friendship will last long.”
“...”
For the third time already, I get chills along my back.
The girl trustingly and brightly smiled, giving me a formal greeting. Too bad I can't shake her hand.
Wait, just one second... Is it me, or did I hear "he"?
*
“Wait a second, you're a guy!!!”
Shenanigans! Well, I did think that for a fourteen year old girl her chest wasn't too developed, but damn it, there below, indeed that's!..
“A-ha-ha-ha-ha... It's not good, Ishizue, to become an attendant with dirty thoughts.”
That black devil smiles innocently.
His face, whatever you say, was so incredibly charming... Even my breathing got faster, when I was changing his clothes.
It was a noon of a second day from the time I became a steward. I was randomly told this:
“I'm hot. Ishizue-san, change my clothes.”
He says that, and my thoughts become excited over what will be next, and here..!
“By the way... What's that? Chinese dress? Are you using it as pajamas?”
I'm throwing a protest with a judgemental look, like, isn't it a waste?
“ It's just that my robe looks like that. Silk is for comfort. By the way, if I wear anything once, I don't wear it the second time.”
Seriously?! Karyou Kaie is absolutely passive, not moving an inch.
... Damn, I'm blushing again, even though I do my best not to. While I was taking his clothes off, my head was spinning from the feeling of amorality. Undressing a beauty with no limbs. Feeling like that girl can't do anything to oppose it - the girl doesn't resist, just bears the unceremonious guy, swallowing her embarrassment. This feeling of guilt, resembling a play with a doll, shook my fingers, unbuttoning her clothes.
The naked body was so milky and delicate that I got uncomfortable about my own body, and I almost went mad from realizing that I could, here and now, turn into a criminal, when I saw the object around his crotch - how did I feel then, could anyone understand? Anyone? No one, I guess...
“And that's it. No complaints? Nothing feels uncomfortable on your back?”
“Nothing, accurate work. You're gentle, Ishizue. And so agile with your hand.”
“Surely. I'm just doing my best to move one in place of two.”
I walked back from the bed, walked around the sofa... and black dog, while keeping some decent distance, and dropped my bottom on the floor. Karyou Kaie was like a swallowtail, giving off poison while looking innocent, and if I was any closer than I was now, I would get a lethal dose of it. For things like that, you need to grow resistance and get used to it with time.
***
My casualty changed a lot. All day I, basically, spend in Kaie's basement room, heading back home just to sleep. One time I got so lazy that I didn't feel like walking home, so I asked if I can spend a night there.
“It's dangerous at night, you can't. And wasn't that you who said it's impossible to spend a whole day in a room like that? That you need to get some fresh air, at least at night?”
And so, I wasn't allowed to stay.
The job is boringly easy. Food-related stuff, sometimes walks around the room on prostheses, talks with no real topic. Wiping the body is the only thing of concern, and care for that lower part...
“ Ishizue-san, give me that leg prosthesis.”
... was decided like that. He toddled to the bathroom on his own.
The empty days kept coming and going, a month passed like nothing. Receiving my first salary, I got worried if I should actually take this much. AjJob is supposed to be hard, and if it's so fun, I become afraid of some ancient misfortunes and get nervous.
My balance started crumbling - I noticed it myself. Careless lonesomeness in my room began invoking gloom. My small, but beloved home now didn't seem so wonderful. My ideal became like that: if you don't want anyone to disturb you, stay in that underground room. From the time I found out about it, this apartment became nothing more than a place to stay the night. When a rootless darkness appears on a ball in a palace, its own life begins to feel empty.
I switch on the TV and lie on my bed, in a stream of uninteresting news, remembering today's underground room.
“Ishizue-san, you're not living up to your surname, "Stone staff".”
"That pisses me off. Who does he think he is?!" - I think sometimes, seriously hating that spoiled boy. Well of course, I care about him in words and works, and he doesn't even care what I'll think.
“I thought you'd be more cruel.”
“What?”
“ You're kind, you care about me. Even though I'm defective, I feel human, that's how you treat me.”
So he likes cold attitude? Damn masochist!
But I see the power I don't have in how Kaie doesn't care if he's treated like a thing, in how he acts decently without getting stuck on any words of others... And why would you try being next to someone you didn't become, next to someone you're in awe with?.. Heh. You're probably waiting for a crumb to be spared for you, nothing new.
“Damn, it's like tightrope walking. When your balance is lost, you need to fix it in cold blood.”
If you jerk to the wrong side - you fall. It's all alright, I'll carefully return to my place. Both the feeling that I want to keep taking care of him for as long as I can, and that basement room I can't get off my mind - both are just a temporary poisoning.
Same as with a balancer. One month will pass, and the fever should cool down.
*
Well, that hopeful foresight was naive.
Complicating the illness, the fever didn't cool down, it kept heating up. It's unpleasant to admit, but this is life. Once fortune turns away from you, it keeps going against you again and again.
*
“Ah, yes. Ishizue, your house is in the north part of Shikura, right?”
“Yes, why? You want to go shopping?”
“I want to see with my own two eyes if you can reach it. Ishizue, did you know? A world of rock'n'roll has descended upon this hole!”
Apparently in a nice mood, Kaie put on prostheses of legs and left hand today. Probably that's why, for the first time, I saw his theatrical gesture.
“ What's rock'n'roll? A fossil?”
I closed a comics book. He said he'll buy some books to kill time, so I bought him some comics books as well. Kaie doesn't read at all, so those books are permanently borrowed by me. I was planning to persuade him into buying "Sangokushi", but that's a secret.
“Hey, don't call it a "fossil" now... That's a stone like object... Ishizue, do you not listen to music?”
“No. When I play myself, it's alright, but I don't like listening to others' music.”
“Hmm. So you don't know about rock'n'roll huh. Well, anyway, youngsters from North Shikura say that you can get some drugs unavailable in pharmacies, for a decent price.”
“What?..”
Brushing the point aside with a "Well, it doesn't matter though", the underground devil continues.
“But yeah, it's not that cool. A dealer is doing his best, the youngsters kept on raving. The dealers don't just sell drugs, they're extorting those that fail to pay the price, giving them a showy lesson, apparently they know their stuff. Looks like the guys that owe a lot are getting in car accidents. When it's a hit and run, you can't catch them, one detective I know complained to me about that.”
“...”
It doesn't concern me at all, but that story resembles the book I was just reading.
“Listen, I don't know. Isn't this going to end once they figure out that the business is just a cover? Any way, a job like that's just a dream, you won't keep any permanent clients that way, right? And if you try to distribute it too much, you'll get caught, that's not fun.”
“Yeah. But the problem is, he isn't getting caught. That dealer, of course, doesn't show himself, but all his cases seem like imitations. He's learning from the long-lasting and successful small dealers cases and imitating them. So the inspectors can't make out an image for the criminal.
“ ...”
What a weird topic. Hell, who would know imitation crimes better than me? Even then, if the criminal doesn't leave someone's image, you can't tell his true face. His discerning feature is, no matter how laughable it is, a lack of identifiability.
“Strange criminals. What are they trying to achieve by imitating?”
“Who knows. Well, not taking anyone's place at least. That's the deal anyway, I thought you know something, Ishizue. Your character is the one that easily catches on topics like that.”
“Come on. Do you think any black marketeer would get close to that building?”
“Oh.”
Kaie got it. Heh, I live in building 13, the one that mothers scare their capricious children with. Famous for its high danger and poverty levels. Well, I surprisingly like the topic, though.
“Hmm? Having fun, Ishizue? Do you know something after all?”
“Nope, I honestly don't. But just now... You were worried about me, right?”
That was like a warning - "don't get caught up in it".
Kaie didn't move an eyebrow:
“Why? I'm interested in copycat criminals. What happens to you is none of my concern.”
And then the black dog barked.
***
Nevertheless, the days were busy.
Five months passed from since I got discharged from that clinic. "Maybe this year will end in favorable winds as well", I'm thinking optimistically, on the way home. The guy in the basement was, as usual, indifferent to my fate, and lately I'm thinking that it's alright. If it gets too hard to bear, I'll make him obey with power.
“Oh hi, Arika-chan.”
Niijima was waiting for me near the door. "Ding!" - reacts, in my head, the lately relaxed radar.
“Something happened?”
“Someone was in your room until just recently. You don't come back until seven, right? I thought it was strange, so I went to look, and some strange boy came out of it. He said he knows you from the clinic, and that I shouldn't worry, and went on his way.
“Wh-what?.. That's it? Nothing else happened?”
“I'm telling you, no. But it's the first time I saw anyone come for you, Arika.”
Of course. I didn't say I got discharged to any of my acquaintances. I thank Niijima and go in.
“Damn. What for, why? I don't get it.”
The room was a fine example of an apartment after a search.
Bed and TV are untouched, so I sit on the bed and think, who it might've been. I can't think of anyone, of course. I decided to change the door lock first thing in the morning, tomorrow.
*
“ You don't get why? That's something. I keep on hearing it today.”
The following day, 2 PM.
The door stuff took some time, so I got to work late. You won't get satiated from just juice; I cut an apple for Kaie, and eat some grape myself. Single-handed apple cutting is a trick I learned especially for Kaie.
“Listen, I'm serious. Yesterday I came home, and it was all turned upside down. And I didn't do anything at all that would make me any enemies after being discharged.”
I'm consulting with him, what could that mean?..
"A-ahn" - Kaie opens his mouth. I carefully feed him an apple slice. A Left hand prosthesis lays on a table, but it looks like he doesn't feel like wearing it today.
“Hmm, maybe just a burglar?”
“Nothing was stolen. I prefer to carry my paybook with me.”
And I carry all my money with me. If anyone saw my profit, I'm done for.
“Well, there's no meaning in thinking about it, I guess. You don't remember what happened that day? And you don't know what you did yesterday, right?”
“Well... something like that.”
But... Hey, did I really say that to Kaie?
“Thanks, you can clean up now.”
I took the tray and went to the sink. As there was no kitchen in this room, I have to wash the dishes in the bathroom. The Water reservoir is cubic and this room is no different. Each of the square walls has a different door attached to them - near the one leading to forest is the toilet, without a door. All of the doors doors, except the south one, are mysterious and locked.
“Oh... Why are there two cups in the sink?”
Why, do I need to ask why? Today, before I came, he had a guest.
“He-ey. Did anyone come?” - I shout, washing the fruit knife and plate.
“What? But you introduced me to him yourself. He said he needs help and wants, no matter what, to ask me something...”
I shut off water, drop the fruit knife in my pocket, and as naturally as I can return to the room.
“What was he like? So that I can remember him.”
“A bit younger than me... His name was Hisaori Shinya.”
“Hisaori... Shinya?”
“You know him?”
Of course I do. How can I not... But why him? Was he discharged already?
“He's sudden, as usual... And? What were you talking about?”
“Well, a real hot topic. He wants revenge against his sister... You know how he was caught?”
“I heard about it.”
Hisaori Shinya. A High-schooler, left his parents to die and tried to kill his sister. Well, all of that was three years ago, he should be in the clinic now. But if he managed to leave the clinic, then he probably cut his teeth, and he wouldn't think about revenge.
“And what did you do, Kaie?”
“Whatever I said, my words couldn't reach him at all. You know about it, right? The rumor people made up. If you want to kill a possessed, ask a demon from the forest. That's about me. Hisaori, sadly, took it seriously.”
The fish is running about above the ceiling. Black dog snuffles loudly.
It's the first time I hear about a rumor like that. Yeah, if it's that guy, he might take a rumor like that seriously.
“I see. So Shinya's older sister is possessed. And he decided to carry out revenge for sure... What did you suggest?”
“To dig a hole for someone more carefully, nothing more. Hisaori Shinya has both legs and arms, I can't even offer a hand prosthesis. I asked how he wants to have his revenge, he replied that he wants to kill, of course.”
“Bark, bark! “- black dog, never once coming close to me, rubs against my leg.
“Good grief... when did he show up?”
“About an hour before you came.”
We know each other. I can't leave such a dangerous guy alone.
“I'm sorry, but is it okay if I leave early today? I have to catch Hisaori Shinya.”
But will it be alright? If it comes to a fight, I can't do much with one hand...
“Okay. Wait. You can take the prosthesis from the table. As you don't have your own feelings yet, you can only use this one.”
I don't get it. Prosthesis for left hand, the one at the table?..
“Take it, don't be shy. You wanted a hand prosthesis from the very beginning, didn't you.”
“Ah. Yeah... Okay, I'll take it then. Why would I need it, though...”
I can't refuse after those words from him. Taking the white left hand that I don't even want to touch, that won't even fit me, I leave the basement room.
*
I knew where to search, to put it simply.
If nothing changed in three years, Hisaori Shinya's house is a land tenure in Nozu. Returning to the station, I take a bus to Nozu. For the first time since my discharge I go there, and I don't feel like showing myself too much. On the bus, I decided to put on the prosthesis lent by Kaie. It's made to match him perfectly. I tried not to think about it, but I know this prosthesis is "wonderful", no tricks.
I just had to put white artificial arm close to me for it to grow in perfectly. It's not moving, of course... "Wonderful" part in it is that Kaie can move it, like a god.
“Seriously, what's the trick?..” - I mumble, as the bus keeps going.
Soon I arrived in Nozu. Day was giving way to dusk, and one of the Shikura city's horrors, the illusionary high-rise building, jerks with red light.
Hisaori - building 3, room 303.
No nameplate. Looks like no new family moved in. An apartment left after a possessed incident, who's gonna use it...
Opening the door, I entered. I don't want him to run away, so I squeezed in without ringing the bell on the door, but inside was completely empty. Houses in Nozu are 3LDK, so it was a bit tight here, but it was just about right size for a mother, a father, a sister and a brother to live together.
The sun sets and I looked at the balcony from the empty living room.
Is that so...
If he's not here, I don't know how to find him. I don't want to, but I'll have to, when I go back, to call clinic and ask the staff about his discharge.
X X X
The timing was too perfect, it's like it was begging for it.
It was ten at night when I came back from Nozu, and I was just in front of building 13... when the back of my head suddenly got hit with a blunt object.
I see sparks in my eyes. I didn't lose consciousness, but I almost fell face forward. And without any time to collect myself, I get kicked in my back and fall to the ground.
“Hey, are yah Ishizue Arika?”
Someone grabs my head and drags me into the darkness. What the hell?.. my home was right in front of me, why isn't anyone coming to help?!
“Wha? Is this the guy?! What the fuck, he's weaker than us! He's the one pushing us to the corner?!”
More sparks. I think my head was kicked from the side. I can't deal with this situation anymore. More than three, but less than six kids push me up against a big tree.
“Hey, are you alive? You're alive, right? Well, not like I care though... Takkun, can I hit him too?”
“Sure, why not? See, he's not bleeding. Just don't hit his face, if you hit it too hard, he's gonna kick the bucket.”
They laughed.
Dam-n!- I get a loud hit to the back of my head. She probably hit me with a swing, like she was playing golf.
“Are you stupid or what?! The back of the head is a vita... Yuck, blood! Stop it, he's gonna die like that.”
“So what if he dies? He's useless anyway.”
“Ahh, right! He's possessed, he's fine without a head too.”
And thus the lynching began.
My hands bent, I was turned into a sandbag that was beaten, physically and verbally. After all the incoming hits my consciousness starts blinking in and out, I can't tell faces anymore, I can't even understand the words.
“Ah!”
The left hand, the prosthesis, moves. Blood was richly flowing into it.
“What?... Takkun, what's with your hand?”
Her question soon turned into scream shortly after.
Oh come on, what's with that infamy? Right in front of my eyes, a residential house, and no one came out to help.
Anger, resentment about some weakling countersrike, attacking with a crowd. It's breached with an overwhelming difference in power, creating defiance, abuse, groans and grinding teeth.
“Ayeeeeeeee... no... I-I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-y!..”
They were pleading cries of the last woman, about my age. I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
I have to admit, I really don't like using brute force.
But some sadism after all that masochism is, no doubt, very, very nice...
*
“Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha!”
I barely contain my laughter.
Five youngsters.. or six? - lie on the ground. They're soaked in blood, but they're fine.
“Oh damn! Well, but they're still alive.”
Ha-ha-ha. A slight regret.
What's that... I started a new life at last, I wanted to live as a normal human, and it wasn't long before I crossed the border of allowed self-defense. Ha-ha-ha! I should be more careful here, or they'll take me back to clinic. But it was fun, so fun, I couldn't do anything about it. Yes, yes! To put a human in this mental state to a clinic is a crime. And they're the ones responsible, too.
“Hey, Ta-kun~. Want an ambulance? No? Weird guy. You're wheezing something, can't understand ya.”
If I leave them like that, two were probably going to die, but someone's going to pass by soon anyway. The frivolity that made them attack on the roadside became a straw that would save those Ta-kuns.
“That's great. If even one of you died, and this whole thing made it to public, I would have to lie low. And like that, we both get lucky.”
Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha! What a shame, I can't control my face expression because of the excess happiness. Well, what am I standing here for, I'd better go home.
X X X
“Hi-hi, my home, I'm back!”
Even though I got into some trouble on the way here, I made it alright from Nozu.
I take off the dirtied clothes, switch TV on and fall on the bed.
The news stream makes me refuse to believe my ears.
“Wha-a-at?!”
I jump up and look at the screen. It wasn't my imagination. Perpetually announcing news from another world speaker names familiar places and names.
"Today, at around six o'clock, in the industrial area of Nozu in Shikura city, in a residential array, a body of a young man was found, identified as Hisaori Shinya, nineteen years old, living in the said place. By the words of witnesses and Hisaori's notes, accused with his death is a man named ***. He was seen there at the time of...."
“What the hell!”
My mind goes empty this time. I come back to senses from the border of consciousness:
“How could it be me who killed him?”
The name of a man accused of killing Hisaori Shinya was none other but my own.
Originally Posted by Kelnish
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