6

Broad Bridge is distorted like it has been squeezed by a giant hand. Arguing with the guard after coming here in the storm with Tohko-san’s buggy, Shiki shows up from under the bridge with a blood-soaked arm. The guard runs to Shiki but Shiki tackles him and gets him unconcious.

“Yo. For some reason, I thought you would be here.”

Shiki says so with a pale face. There were so many things I wanted to say but it all disappears once I see how weak she is. I run to her to help her, but Shiki refuses and would not even let me support her.

“So you managed with just one arm, huh, Shiki?”

Tohko-san seems surprized. Shiki glares in discontent.

“Tohko, She came up with Clairvoyance in the end. She’ll have a ridiculus power if you leave her be.”

“Clairvoyance, huh? Certainly, if you add that to her power, she’ll be invincible. She would be able to make a fulclum even if you are hiding… Huh? If you leave her be…?”

“She returned to pain insensitivity at the very end. That’s cheating. Asagami Fujino in that state can’t be my target. I couldn’t do anything else so I just killed the disease in her stomach. She might make it if you hurry.”

Shiki did not kill Asagami Fujino. Understanding that, I quickly call the hospital. I’m not sure if they would be willing to come in this storm, but if they won’t, I’ll just take her myself. Fortunately, her doctor agrees to come. The doctor was worried about the disappeared Fujino, and it seemed he was crying over the phone. There may not be many, but Fujino still has people on her side. I am moved. Behind me, the two is having a dangerous conversation.

“Did you stop the bleeding on that arm? It’s not bleeding it seems.”

“Yeah, I killed it cause it was useless. You can make an arm, right? You’re a puppet master after all.”

“All right. That will be your pay for this job. I always thought that your body is too normal in contrast to you eyes. I can make that left arm be able to grab spirits and such.”

… I don’t want them talking about such things.

“An ambulance is going to come here. It’ll be lots of trouble to stay here, so do you want to get away?”

Tohko-san nods but Shiki is silent. … She probably wants to make sure that Asagami Fujino does get taken away safely.

“Since I contacted them, I’ll stay here. I’ll tell you what happened, so you can go back.”

“In this strong rain? You sure are strange. All right, let’s go back, Shiki.”

Shiki refuses Tohko-san’s offer. Tohko-san makes a mean smile and gets on her off-road buggy that seems totally illegal.

“Shiki. Don’t kill Kokutoh just because you couldn’t kill Asagami Fujino.”

Tohko-san says so seriously and drives off. In the summer rain, Shiki and I end up finding shelter under the nearby warehouse.

***

The ambulance comes in no time and carries off Asagami Fujino. In this storm, I cannot see her face. I cannot make sure that she’s the girl from that one night, but I think that’s for the best. Shiki blankly stares into the night. Shiki stands there wet in the rain. She is glaring at Fujino all this time. I ask her heart within the sound of rain.

“Shiki, you still can’t forgive Asagami Fujino?”

“…… I don’t care about the one I already killed.”

Shiki declares so. There’s no hate or anything there. For Shiki, Fujino must be someone she does not know now. … It’s sad but that might be the best result for those two. Shiki casts a glace at me.

“How about you? You say murder is wrong no matter what the reason is.”

She seems like she’s asking herself the question.

“… Yeah, but I sympasize her. To be honest, I have no feeling about the guys who violated her getting killed.”

“That’s unexpected. I was hoping for your popular opinion.”

… Do you want to be blamed, Shiki? But you didn’t kill anyone. I close my eyes and listen to the rain.

“Really? But that is my opinion. Because, Shiki, even though she lost herself, Asagami Fujino is a normal girl. She will take in what she’s done without changing the facts to suit her. Even if she does give herself up to the police, no one can prove what she’s done and she won’t be socially responsible for her sins. That’s what makes it more difficult.”

“Why?”

“…… I think sins are things people burden themselves with their own will. A burden that one casts on themselves according to their views, that is what a sin is. The more compassion you have, the heavier the sin that you burden become. The more common sense you have, the heavier the sin that you burden become. Asagami Fujino’s sins become heavier and more painful as she gets happier.”

Shiki tells me I’m too good-natured.

“Then does that mean those without compassion have no sense of sins?”

“I don’t think no one will have no sense of sins. It means that their sins are light, but it is still there. A small sin within their small compassion. For us, it might seem trivial like tripping on a road, but for that person, it becomes a burden. Even the small pain for us becomes an unpleasant feeling for those with small compassion. No matter the weight, the meaning of a sin is the same.”

… Yes. For example, Minato Keita was frightened up to insanity probably because of his realization of his sins. He cannot atone for his regret, sense of guilt, fear, or impatience, but all he can do is try to atone for them.

“Certainly, it must be easier to not be responsible for your sins socially. But if no one punishes you for your sins, you have to carry your sins yourself. Guilty conscience is not something that goes away, right? You have memories of it. Since no one forgave you for it, you cannot forgive it yourself. The wound in your heart never heals and it will continue hurting. Like her sense of pain remaining, the wound would never heal. As you say, heart does not have shape…… so I think a wound on it cannot be treated.”

Shiki is listening silently. Maybe because I looked up Fujino’s past, I’m unusually poetic. Shiki sudddenly gets out of the cover of the warehouse and goes out into the rain.

“So you’re saying this. The more common sense you have, the more sense of sin you have. That’s why there’s no bad people in this world. But I have no such thing. Can you let such a person on the loose?”

Now that she says so, that is indeed true. Before you can call Shiki good or bad, she has a small sense of common sense.

“I see. Then I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll have to burden all your sins then.”

That is my true feeling. It seems to have caught Shiki off guard as she stands there dumbfolded. After getting hit by the rain for a while, Shiki murmurs uncomfortably.

“… I finally remember. You say those kinds of jokes with a straight face. To confess, Shiki found it hard to deal with such a thing.”

“…… *Sigh* I see. I do think I can at least carry one girl on me, you know.”

I argue timidly, and Shiki laughs.

“To confess one more thing, I think I burdened a sin with this thing today. But I found out one thing in return. What my life is, and what I want. It’s vague and fragile, but I will have to follow it for now. It turns out that what I’m following isn’t as ugly as I thought it was. I’m a bit happy. A bit… A killing impulse that is slightly leaning towards your view…”

… I can only frown at her last sentence, but Shiki is beautiful as she smiles saying so in the rain. The storm should go away by the morning. I keep staring at Shiki, who is in the summer rain. Come to think of it, that is her first true smile she showed me since she recovered from the coma…

Remaining Sense of Pain
Fin

While the storm is hitting town, I return to the office. When I enter the office wet with rain, Tohko-san greets me by dropping her cigarette.

“You’re fast. It’s only been a day.”

“I heard a storm was coming so I came back before the transportation stoppped.”

Tohko-san nods while making a difficult face. I wonder if something is wrong… No, right now……

“Tohko-san, about Asagami Fujino. She was not born with her pain insensitivity. She was normal until she was six years old.”

“What? That can’t be true. Look, even though she has pain insensitivity, it is not affecting her physical activities. If you say her pain insensitivity came after she was born, hollow spine would be the case. But that causes problem with physical activities. A such rare case where she only lacks the sense of pain can only be that she was born with it.”

“Yes, that’s what her personal doctor said too.”

I want to tell her what happened in Nagano from the beginning but there’s no such time. I tell her about the Asagami family… no, the AsaGAMI family in a short summary.

“The AsaGAMI family was a respected family, but it has gone broke when Fujino was around twelve. Fujino came to the Asagami family of now to her mother at that time. It seems Asagami is a family branched off from the AsaGAMI family, and they took care of the borrowed money in want of their land. Fujino had her sense of pain when she was small. But in its place, she had strange powers. They say she could bend things without touching them.”

“… And?”

“She was hated as the devil. She received oppression too. But from the time Fujino turned six, the power has disappeared, along with her sense of pain.”

“………”

Tohko-san’s expression changes. I can tell she’s getting excited from her smile.

“She gets a personal doctor from that time, but there is no record of that at the AsaGAMI house. It’s because that place is empty now.”

“What the… The important part is next, but this is it!?”

“Of course not. I found the personal doctor and talked to him.”

“…… You’re working smart, Kokutoh.”

“Yes, I followed the record and went to Akita. He is an underground doctor without licence, so it took me a whole day to get the story out of him.”

“… I’m amazed. You should become a detective if you get fired from here. I’ll make you my personal detective.”

I reply that I’ll think about it, and continue on with my story.

“It seems this doctor only provided medicine. He said he doesn’t know why Fujino became pain insensitive. He said that is her father’s doing alone.”

“Her father did it himself? Do you mean the curing or giving her medicine?”

I nod to the small difference between the two.

“Giving her the medicine of course. According to the doctor, Fujino’s father had no intention of curing Fujino’s pain insensitivity. Most of the medicine that the doctor provided is Aspirin and Indometacin, steroids. According to the examination by the doctor, he says Fujino probably has Neuromyelitis Optica.”

“Neuromyelitis optica…… Devic’s disease, huh?”

Devic’s disease. It is a type of myelitis and it is a disease that causes numbness of the senses. Popular symptoms are numbness in the lower legs and eyesight going bad. It even has the danger of making one blind. This disease requires early treatment with steroids. The steroids are what Tohko-san said before… what they call adrenocorticosteroid.

“To add, they use Indometacin which numbs the sense of pain. I see. That would indeed make her like that. She’s not inherent or posteriori. Asagami Fujino lost her senses artificially. It’s the exact opposite of Shiki!”

Tohko-san starts to laugh. It’s a bit scary as she is like the professor I saw yesterday.

“Tohko-san, what is this Indometacin?”

“It’s a pain-killer. It doesn’t matter if it’s pripheral or referred pain, pain occurs from reaction to “outside force that might endanger life”. Algesic substance is made inside your body and it stimulates the nerves relating to pain, signaling your brain of the pain. It tells the brain that the body will die if it doesn’t do something. You know algesic substances, right? There are things such as Kinin and Amin, as well as Arachidonic Acid metabolites which strengthen the two. Such things as Aspirin and Indometacin controls the Prostaglandin which is in this Arachidon. The pain from Kinin and Amin isn’t much, so taking in a lot of Indometacin would take away most of the pain.”

Tohko-san seems really happy as she is relatively high.

To be honest, this Arachidon and Kinindon thing seems like monster names to me.

“So it’s a medicine to erase pain?”

“Not directly. If you want to erase the pain, a drug called opioid would do much better. There’s the endorphin thing, right? It’s that thing that the brain secretes to ease the pain. It works like that and opioid kills the pain in the central nervous system. …… Well, I guess all this has nothing to do with the subject. I see. Asagami Fujino’s father decided to seal her power by sealing her senses. A family totally opposite of that of Ryohgi, who tries so hard to make ones with power. But what’s sad is her power became stronger by doing that. Magi from around Egypt area stitch their eyes shut to keep their Mana within them. What’s the different between them and Asagami Fujino?”

… I was prepared for Tohko-san’s words, but I’m still shocked. I knew already that Asagami family has children that has special powers like that of Asagami Fujino… ones born with diffferent channels. They dispited those children and tried to seal their power by any means possible. The result of that is… pain insensitivity. To close off the chanel of special powers, they also closed the function of senses. That is why Asagami Fujino operates her power when her pain returns… because her sealed senses return.

“That’s terrible. The only way for her to stay normal is to be abnormal.”

That’s right. Asagami Fujino could be in our world only by being abnormal in the form of pain insensitivity. But as long as she cannot feel anything, she cannot earn anything. She is only a ghost allowed to live in our world.

“If she did not feel pain, she would have not killed anyone.”

“Hey now, don’t treat pain like it’s a bad thing. Pain is a good thing. The bad thing is the wound, you shouldn’t get this wrong. We need pain, no matter how painful it is. People can recognize danger because we have pain. Do we get away from fire because it puts our hand on fire? No. It is because our hand is burning, and it hurts. If that’s not the case, we won’t know the danger of fire until our hand burns off. It is right for pain to be painful, Kokutoh. Anything that doesn’t have that cannot understand other people’s pain. Asagami Fujino was hit in the back and got her sense of pain back temporary. She defended herself for the first time from the pain she received after that. Those people that she didn’t notice as danger before, she was able to recognize as dangerous because of pain. … Still, killing them was too much.”

… But Fujino does not feel pain. Those people died because of her defending herself, but they are partly responsible as they attacked her. You cannot make her hold all responsibility.

“Tohko-san, can she be cured?”

“There is no wound that cannot be cured. A wound that cannot be cured should be called death.”

Tohko-san indirectly calls Asagami Fujino’s wound as death. But the cause of these incidents are the stabbed wound in her stomach. If that pain is to come back, if the cause of that pain is known……

“Kokutoh, her wound cannot be cured. It will only continue to hurt.”

“Huh?”

“She has no wound to begin with, Kokutoh.”

…… Tohko-san says an unexpected thing.

“Um… what do you mean by that?”

“Think about it. If you get stabbed in the stomach, would the wound heal by itself? In a day or two?”

… That… is true but…

I get confused at the point Tohko-san is making that goes against all assumptions. Tohko-san tries to hold back her laughter.

“Like you investigating Asagami Fujino’s past, I also investigated Asagami Fujino’s present. Fujino has not gone to any hospital since the 20th. She did not even go to her personal doctor that she sees secretly.”

“Personal… what!?”

Tohko-san frowns in amazement.

“… You’re good at searching for things but lack in insight. Look, the scariest thing for a pain insensitive person is something wrong with their body. Since they do not have pain, they cannot know any sickness they have. As a result, they have a doctor look at them from time to time.”

I see. She is completely right. Then… does Asagami Fujino’s parent now not know of her pain insensitivity?

“The trigger was a trivial misunderstanding, Kokutoh. Fujino was taken down by a guy with a knife and thought she was going to get stabbed. No, I bet she did almost get stabbed. Since her sense of pain returned at that time, she could use her power too. Cut or twist… Fujino happened to be first. As a result, the guy’s neck was twisted off and his blood spilled onto Fujino’s body. Fujino must have thought that she must have been stabbed in her stomach.”

I can clearly imagine the scene… I shake my head.

“But that’s strange. If her sense of pain is back, she wouldn’t make that kind of a mistake. She would not feel pain if she was not stabbed.”

“Fujino was in pain from the start.”

……… Huh?

“I was shown her status from her doctor. She has chronic Arrihythmia… what people call Appendicitis. Well, I guess that is why she went to the doctor. Her pain in the stomach is not the pain from the knife, but rather an internal pain. Her pain ached from time to time. If her sense of pain returned right before being stabbed, she will surely misunderstand that she was stabbed. If you are raised not knowing pain, you wouldn’t even make sure if the wound is there or not. Fujino would look at the stabbed stomach, and even if it doesn’t have a wound, she would think that the wound must have healed.”

“So… it’s a misunderstanding?”

I say so without strength.

“The wound itself is. But the truth does not change. She was indeed on the edge. It doesn’t matter if the knife was there or not. Her only way out was to kill them. If she did not kill, she would have been killed. Not her body but her mind. But unfortunately, Minato Keita got away. I don’t think it would have turned out this bad if her revenge was completed then.. It’s just like Shiki said. It’s too late.”

Come to think of it, Shiki did repeat that. Why would it be too late? Is it because Fujino has committed murder? But then, that would be when she killed those four guys. I don’t understand.

“Why is it too late?”

“Shiki must mean the mental part. Her murder is murder up to five people. A murder other than those are not murder, but a massacre. It is not justified. That is what Shiki was angry about. … Shiki has a taste for murder but she still understands unconsciously how important death is. That is why she does not kill indiscriminately like Asagami Fujino. For Shiki, she cannot forgive Fujino for doing as she wishes.”

Is Asagami Fujino really doing as she wishes? To me, it seems like she is running away desperately. Tohko-san continues.

“But what I mean by too late is the physical part. Arrihythmia perforate when left alone and becomes Retinitis. Inflammation of retina comes with pain uncomparable to that of the vermiform appendix. You could say it matches the pain from being stabbed with a knife. Then, one would start getting fevers and cyanosis. They may even get shocks from lowered blood pressure. If it reaches the duodenum, you would die in half a day in the worst case. It’s been five days since the 20th. It should already be perforated. It’s too bad but it’s fatal for her already.”

How can this person make such a cool face and say that?

“It’s not too late yet. We have to find her quickly…!”

“Kokutoh, our client for this is Asagami Fujino’s father. He must have known about Fujino’s power. That is why he heard about the incident and thought it must be Fujino’s doing. That father said to “kill that monster”. The only one that can protect her is wishing for her death. See Kokutoh, she has no salvation in all senses. And besides, Shiki already left.”

“…… You idiot…!!”

I scream at no one.

Shiki slowly appears. Fujino cannot believe her eyes. Shiki comes out directly in front of her, and far away too. Fujino does not notice but her fever is over 39 degrees now. She does not realize that the pain in her stomach is from a “certain condition”.

“… I see. …… You must be abnormal.”

Fujino can only think so. Fujino looks at Shiki and bends. Her vision distorts. The fulclum made in Shiki’s head and leg each twists in the opposite direction and twists Shiki’s body like a piece of rug.

… It should have twisted her.

Shiki, whose left arm is bleeding, nullifies Fujino’s “distortion” just by swinging the knife in her right hand. No…… she killed it.

“It’s hard to see those without shape but you used your power too many times. Now I can finally see them. Your power is a spiral of red and green. It’s really… beautiful.”

Fujino does not understand what Shiki is saying. The only thing she realizes is that Shiki will surely kill her now. Fujino repeatedly prays. Bend, bend, bend, bend. As Fujino glares so, Shiki swings her knife and eliminates the power. Fujino’s pain in her stomach is about to go over its limits.

“Who…… are you?”

Shiki answers Fujino’s fear with infinitely deep eyes.

“Everything in existence has an imperfection. Not to mention humans, but even in air, will, and time. It’s natural to have an end if it has a beginning. My eyes can see the death of things. They’re special like yours.”

Shiki looks at Fujino with eyes that Fujino felt was omnious before.

“That’s why… if it’s alive, I can even kill God.”

Shiki runs. It is graceful as if she is walking. She runs to Fujino and pushes her down onto the ground. Shiki get on top of her. Fujino shakes her throat at facing Death so close to her.

“Are you… going to kill me?”

Shiki does not answer.

“Why are you going to kill me? I only killed because my wound was hurting.”

Shiki laughs.

“That’s a lie. Then why are you laughing? That time before, and even now. Why do you seem so happy?”

Fujino hesitates. Fujino quietly places her hand on her own mouth.

…………… It’s bent.

She did not know because she does not feel anything, but she is certainly smiling……

My first murder.
… How did my face look in the pool of blood?

My second murder.
… How did my face look in the pool of blood?

I do not know but there was always an irritation. I was always irritated when I killed. Was that emotion… happiness? I could not even feel anything when I was raped, so I took pleasure in murder……?

“In the end, you were enjoying it. You like hurting others. That’s why that pain would never go away.”

It is because if the pain goes away, Fujino would have no reason to kill. The wound will continue hurting, for the sake of Fujino herself.

“……… That is…… the answer?”

Fujino murmurs. She does not want to accept it. She does not want to think about it. Because she must be different from Shiki……

“I told you, we are alike.”

Shiki’s knife moves. Fujino screams at the top of her lungs… For everything to bend.

The parking lot shakes. The ocean in the middle of the storm appears inside of Fujino’s mind. Withstanding the burning in her brain, Fujino makes a fulclum on each side of the bridge…

… And bends them…

***

*BOOM*

A big noise as if a lightning came down occurs. The metal foundation creaks and screams. The ground tilts and the ceiling starts to collapse. Fujino blankly stares at the building that is about to collapse. The girl that was on her went down as the world suddenly tilted. There is a storm outside with ocean below. If she fell without being able to grab onto something, she will surely die. Fujino orders her body that is even having trouble breathing. She tells it that this place is going to collapse, so she has to get away from here. Dragging her body about to burn out, Fujino exits the parking lot. The shopping mall is relatively free of damage. The square corridor is now a rhombus.

Fujino walks, thinks she is walking… but falls. She cannot breath. Her legs would not move. Her head is in a daze and she cannot think. What is there is…… yes, only the strong pain inside of her. For the first time, Fujino thinks she is going to die. Because it hurts so much. This is unbearable. It’s better to just die rather than living on with this pain.

“…… *Cough*”

Laying face down, Fujino coughs out blood. On the ground, she is in a daze. In the vision that goes white, only her blood is clear. Red blood… red vision. The setting sun seems like it is burning… always seems like it is burning…

“No…… I do not… want to die.”

Fujino reaches out her arms. If her legs would not move, she will have to use her arms. Dragging her body, she inches forward. If she doesn’t do so, Death would come for her. Fujino keeps moving. All the senses in her are pain. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts… that is the only words she can think about. It is the feeling of pain she finally obtained, but she hates it now. But…… it is true. It hurts… it really hurts, so she wishes she does not want to die. She does not want to disappear. She has to keep living and do something. Because she have not done anything, left nothing behind…

That is too miserable.
That is too empty.
… That is too sad.

But it hurts. It hurts so much that the will to continue living might go numb and lose. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. It hurts, but… … Fujino moves her arms while still coughing up blood. What she repeat are the same words. For the first time in her life, Fujino wishes strongly.
… I want to live longer.
… I want to talk longer.
… I want to love longer.
… I want to stay here longer……

But nothing moves now. Only the pain repeats. This is the true form of what she was enjoying. The truth hurts more than anything for Asagami Fujino. Now she truely understands the sins she has commited, the meaning of the blood she spilled. The meaning is so heavy that she cannot even apologize. She only recalls the kind smile. If that person was here… would he still hug me? Her body convulses. The blood coming up her throat tells her of the final pain about to come. That impact causes her light to go away. Now she can only see what is left in her. No, even that is fading away…… Not being able to stand the loneliness of disappearing, Fujino talks aloud. Her true will that she has hidden so stubbornly. … A small wish that she has dreamed of since she was small.

“……… It hurts. It hurts, Senpai. It really hurts… It hurts so much… I might cry… Mother, can I cry?”

… This is what she wanted to tell someone.
… If she could have said that on that day three years ago…

She cries. It hurts, it’s sad, and it’s so lonely that she can only cry. But just doing that eases the pain. That person has told her that pain is not something one bears but something one appeals to someone to love them. Fujino is thankful she met him… really thankful for being able to see him once again before this…

“Are you in pain?”

At the end of the pain, Shiki is standing. She has a knife in one hand. Fujino turns over to face Shiki.

“You should have said you were in pain if you were hurting.”

Shiki says so in the end. … It is the same words as in Fujino’s memory. “Certainly”, Fujino thinks. Even if she could say that starting now, she might not have came down this wrong road. That inconvenient, but normal life goes through her head. But she cannot. She has committed too many sins. She has killed too many people. … She has killed many people for the sake of her own happiness.

Asagami Fujino slowly stops her own breathing. Her sense of pain quickly disappears. So fast that she does not feel the pain of the knife stabbed in her chest.

/5

Shiki starts to run. In the puddle of water and in this blowing wind, Shiki’s speed is amazingly fast. It should not take more than three seconds to reduce the distance of ten meters to zero. It is enough time to take Fujino’s thin body to the ground and stab her in her heart. But even that speed cannot match the speed of vision. Shiki has to get near her target while Fujino only has to look at her target. For the two, the difference of three second is too long.

“………”

Fujino’s eyes glimmers. The left eye for a rotation to the left. The right eye for a rotation to the right. Taking Shiki’s head and her left leg as the fulcrum, she twists. Strange feeling occurs instantaneously. The instant Shiki feels an invisible power on her, she jumps to the side. An exploding jump to the side. But the power on Shiki does not weaken. Fujino’s power is not a firing weapon. Even if one gets away from one ground, it is impossible to get away from it while she is in her vision.

…… Damn……!!

Shiki realizes Fujino’s power is stronger than she thought. Shiki still runs. As if to run out of her vision, Shiki runs in a circle around Fujino.

“Do you think you can get awa-”

Fujino murmurs and then she is astonished. Shiki did get away! Unbelievably, Shiki has jumped off the bridge down to the ocean. A sound of a window being broken is heard. What an athletic ability… Shiki went off the bridge and went into the parking lot right underneath it.

“What a ridiculous person you are.”

Shiki did get away. But Fujino saw Shiki’s left arm until the end. She did see Shiki’s leather jacket twist. Shiki’s left arm cannot be used anymore. Fujino realizes…

“I am…… stronger.”

The pain in her stomach gets worse by the second. Withstanding the pain, Fujino makes her way down. She has to settle her match with Ryohgi Shiki now.

Inside the parking lot is darkness. The vision is bad and it is hard to walk. It feels like being in a miniature town. The metal poles and the stacks of materials are arranged like buildings. A few minutes after following Shiki down here, Fujino regrets choosing this place as the battleground. Her ability has to have the target in her vision to make the fulcrum of the twist. Even if Fujino knows that Shiki is hiding behind a metal pole, if she cannot see Shiki in her vision, the twist can only go to the pole. In that slight instant on top of the bridge, Shiki understood Fujino’s power. That is why she ran away, to here, the place where she has a chance of winning. … Fujino realizes how inferior she is at fighting. But still…… She is stronger in power. If she cannot see, she’ll just have to destroy everything blocking her view. Fujino takes every metalic pole that might get in her way and bends them. As she twists each one, the pain in her stomach gets worse and the shaking in the paking lot gets harder.

“You really are ridiculous.”

Shiki’s voice echoes through the darkness. Fujino turns to the direction of the voice. The stack of materials Shiki is hiding behind is instantly smashed. At that instant… a white figure runs out of it.

“… There!!”

Fujino’s eyes gets hold on Shiki. The girl in white kimono and a red leather jacket runs toward Fujino sticking her left arm out.

“……!!”

Fujino hesitates a bit and then bends. With a cracking sound, Shiki’s left arm breaks. Her neck is next. When Fujino looks… Shiki is already within her range. The line that the knife takes is like a flash of light. It is a bright swing that seems to leave a trace in the darkness forever. The knife that is swung without hesitation however does not hit Fujino. It is because Fujino avoids by ducking the swing that was aimed at her neck. No, it was just an accident. Asagami Fujino only looked away because she got scared of Shiki, who was running towards her with a broken arm.

“Damn…”

Shiki says so and readies her knife again. Fujino frantically stares at Shiki’s body.

“… Go away…!”

Shiki’s movement is faster than Fujino’s scream. Shiki runs into the darkness without hesitation. One should be surprized not at her athletic ability but her quick thinking choosing escape.

“…… What a person……”

Fujino murmurs. Her rough breathing is not from the pain in her stomach. Fujino carefully checks the darkness around her. She does not know when Shiki will jump out of it again. Fujino feels her neck. From the last attack, her neck has a slight scratch. A wound of about 4mm is not bleeding. … It is not bleeding but her breathing is hard.

“Why does she not stop when her arm is broken…?”

Fujino says so aloud, not being able to contain the fear from that question. She cannot forget that instant. Those eyes of Shiki who still came at her after having her arm broken. Shiki was having fun. That person is enjoying this situation where I, even the one with the advantage, is overwhelmed with tension. Maybe… for Ryohgi Shiki, having her arm broken is not pain, but happiness. Fujino has not enjoyed murder so far. It is because she does not want to kill. But that person is different. That person must like murder. The more extreme the situation is, the happier she becomes. Fujino thinks… if Ryohgi Shiki is a person that lacks in sense of feeling of life, what will she do to substitute for that? For Fujino, it was murder. When she sees other humans die, she gets this undescribable feeling in her. Since Fujino found out what pain feels like, she is able to sympasize when looking at others in pain. The reality that she is the one in control of others makes her feel that she really does exist. A “ruthless murder” is Fujino’s substitute. She does not know it herself, but Fujino takes plaesure in murder. Then what is Ryohgi Shiki’s sustitute……?

***

“That was bad”

Hiding behind a stack of materials, Shiki murmurs to herself. The arm had no power when it was twisted on the bridge. Since it was useless, she decided to use it as a shield and rely on one strike. But the plan failed before the fact that Fujino was more cowardly than Shiki thought she would be. Shiki takes off her jacket and cuts the sleeve. Using the cut cloth, she stops the bleeding on her left arm. A rough treatment which she just wraps around the cloth on her upper arm. The left arm that was twisted has no feeling. It will probably never move. Shiki feels a chill at that fact.

“You’re great Asagami. You’re the best…!”

Her blood is being lost quickly. A sensation of losing conciousness.

… I’m hot-blooded anyways. If I lose some, it will just make me think more clearly…

Shiki concentrates. Asagami Fujino is a strong enemy that might be the best she’ll ever meet. One mistake could cost her life. That is pleasant, that makes Shiki feel that she am alive. For Shiki, who is bound by her past, only this moment is real. This sensation that she is able to feel only when putting her life in danger. That small life of hers that she can declare is hers. Kill or be killed. Since even her normal life is vague, Shiki can only feel life only by such basic methods like this. If Asagami Fujino seeks pleasure in murder… Ryohgi Shiki seeks the sensation of life by relating with murder. Fujino fears this situation…. and Shiki wishes for this situation. That is the difference between the hunter and the hunted. The difference between the two is definite at this time.

… Fujino’s breathing echoes in the air.
… Roughly, strongly, painfully, as if in fear…

She is breathing hard like Shiki even though she has not been hurt yet. In the dark, they breath in unison. Are their beats, minds, and even their life the same? The bridge swinging in the storm feels like a crib. Shiki, for the first time, feels love toward Fujino. So much that she feels she must take Fujino’s life with her own hands.

“I know it’s useless though……”

Shiki murmurs. She knew from the time she saw her at the cafe. She knows that the inside of Asagami Fujino is on the verge of breaking down. It’s meaningless to finish off Fujino right now. But, that’s like life. Shiki thinks some things should come out of meaningless actions. She remembers Tohko saying that humans are things that does meaningless things. Shiki feels the same way now. Exactly like this bridge. People contempt one uselessness as stupidity while praising another uselessness as art. Where does the boundary lie? Boundaries are uncertain. It is yourself that establish it, but it’s always the outside that determines it. Then there is no such thing as a boundary to begin with. The world is full of empty boundaries. That is why there are no walls in society to seprate the abnormal from the normal.

… The one to make the wall is us.
Like me wanting to get away from the world.
Like how Mikiya thinks I’m not abnormal.
… Like how Asagami Fujino is running away to death…

In that sense, Shiki and Fujino are alike. They are similar. In this small space, two of the same kind is not needed.

“Let’s go. I can see the trick to your magic trick now.”

Shaking the head clear from bleeding, Shiki gets up. She grips her knife hard in her right hand. If Fujino does not lay her own boundary… then she will just have to eliminate her.

July 24th. It has been a day since Kokutoh Mikiya went to investigate on Asagami Fujino. Not much happened in this time. Only such thing as a big hurricane coming later tonight upto tomorrow morning and a 17year old driving without a licence dying in a corrision. At least publically. Ryohgi Shiki is just staring outside in Aozaki Tohko’s office. The summer sky is so huge that one gets bored of looking at it in an instant. In the cloudless sky is the shining sun. It seems like a bad dream that this clear sky is going to be covered by storm clouds later tonight. *Clang* *Clang* The noise echoes. A metal factory is beside this office. Since Shiki is beside the window, the noise hits her ears without rest. Shiki looks at Tohko. Tohko is making a phone call wearing her glasses.

“Yes, that is right. About that accident. … I see, so he was indeed dead before the collision. Is his cause of death strangulation? That is not wrong. If the neck is twisted off, that is strangulation. It does not matter how strongly it was done. How have you people treated this accident? A collision, I see… That would seem right. There was only the victim in the car. No detective can solve the mystery of a moving sealed room. No, that’s all the information I wanted. Thank you very much. I will repay you for this somehow, Officer Akimi.”

Tohko sounds very formal and kind. It is so different from her usual tone, whoever knows her normal tone should shiver from hearing it. After hanging up the phone, Tohko shifts her glasses. Emotionless eyes are underneath.

“Shiki, the 7th victim appeared. This is more than the killer two years ago.”

Shiki walks away from the window a bit upset. She wanted to see the sky be taken over by dark clouds.

“I told you. It has to be a meaningless murder this time.”

“It seems so. Minato Keita doesn’t know this Takagi Shouichi guy who died in the accident. This murder has nothing to do with her revenge.”

Shiki, who is wearing a white kimono grits her teeth. What’s there is anger. She puts on a red leather jacket.

“I see. Then I can’t wait any longer. Tohko, do you know where she is?”

“Nope. I can guess a few places where she might be hiding. If you’re going to look for her, you’ll just have to go look at all those places.”

Tohko takes out a few cards from her desk and throws it at Shiki. Shiki grabs the cards.

“… These are… Asagami group’s personal identification cards? Who is this Araya Souren guy?”

All three cards are entrance cards to the construction areas which the Asagami construction is involved in. It must be a magnetic lock as it has a stripe of magnetic sensor on each card.

“That fake name is of my acquaintance. I couldn’t think of a random name. I used it when I made someone make these identification cards. Well, that doesn’t matter though. It should be in one of those places that Asagami Fujino is hiding. It’ll be troublesome, so finish this off before Kokutoh gets back.”

Shiki glares at Tohko. Her usually hollow eyes become sharp. She directs a silent complaint to Tohko but turns around without saying anything. It is because she has the same opinion as Tohko. Shiki does not hurry out but leaves with her usual graceful steps. Being alone, Tohko looks outside the window.

“Looks like Kokutoh didn’t make it. Well, would the storm come first or would a storm occur first? Shiki by herself might not make it out alive, Ryohgi.”

The magus murmurs to no one.

***

Right after noon, the weather starts to change. The blue sky is now already covered with gray clouds. The wind is getting stronger too. Everyone walking around is saying that a storm is near.

“Guh……”

I keep walking holding the burning stomach. I didn’t know about the storm. Probably because I was so caught up with looking for a person. The town is rowdy but there are fewer and fewer people out on the streets. It looks like I won’t be able to do it tonight. I think I should go back for today.

Taking many hours, I finally reach the port on foot. The sky is already dark even though its still seven in the summertime. A storm can even mess up the usual times of seasons. Moving the body that lags more in reaction as time goes on, I reach the entrance of the bridge. This bridge is the bridge my father is working the hardest on. A big bridge that connects this port and the port on the other side. The bridge is a four-laned road and many pathways are beneath the bridge. The underground is like a shopping mall. Even though it is floating on the ocean, I call it so because it’s under the bridge. The upper part of the bridge has guards so I cannot get in. But the entrance to the underground mall is unmanned and I can go inside if I have a card. I take one of the cards out which I took from my house and open the entrance.

… It’s dark inside. It is because even though most of the interior design is finished, electricity isn’t running. The empty mall seems like a station about to close up for the day. The corridors stretch on forever. Many different stores are on either side of the corridor. I walk for about 500 meters and end up in a parking lot. This place is still under construction and is really messy. The walls are unfinished and the bags on there to keep the rain out is making noises from the wind. …… It’s almost eight o’clock. The wind is strong. I want to plug my ears at the sound of the wind and the sound of the waves. The sound of rain hitting the walls are more fierce than the machine gun I saw in movies.

“Rain……”

It was raining on that day too. After my first murder, I washed myself off in the rain. After that, I was able to meet that person. That person whom I met only once in middle school and whom I only talked to for a bit to.

… Yes, I remember. It was a time when the sun was setting. After an event at out school, a Senpai from a different school talked to me, who was still on the field. I could not move because I have sprained my ankle. Since I am pain insensitive, I could actually move, and even if I did move, it has no effect on me mentally. But my swelled ankle tells me that it will get worse if I move anymore. All I could do was watch the sunset without feeling anything. At that time, I did not call for help. I did not want to call for help. If I did, everyone would tell me…
“You beared quite a pain. ”
“Does it hurt?”
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Don’t you think it hurts?”
I do not want that. That is why I was sitting down with a normal expression. I was being a bit stubborn not to let anyone notice. My mother, father, teacher, friends… nobody noticed. I had to let everyone think that Fujino is normal. At that time, somebody tapped me on my shoulder. I did not feel it but I heard a sound by my ear. When I turned around, that person was standing there. He looked kind without knowing what I was thinking. I think my first impression of him was that I did not like him.

“Does it hurt?”

That person greeted me with unbelievable words. How did he know about the wound nobody should know about? I shook my head. I was being stubborn not to admit it. He looked at the nametag on my gym uniform and said my name. He then felt my sore ankle and made a sour face. I knew he was going to say something I did not like, so I closed my eyes. I did not want to hear insensitive words from people with normal senses such as “does it hurt” or “is the pain bad”. But he said something completely different.

“You’re stupid. Look, a pain is not something you bear. Pain is something you have to appeal, Fujino-chan.”

… That is what Senpai told me when I was in middle school. After that, Senpai carried me to the nurse’s office and that was that. It was like a vague dream. Come to think of it, Asagami Fujino might have fallen in love with him since that time. That smile that worried about my suffering that nobody noticed……

*Throb* My stomach aches. That pushes me out of my dream. There is no way I can be dreaming when I’m covered in people’s blood. But… rain might wash off my impurity. I want to go up to the bridge. The storm is already here. On the bridge, it should be like a tipped bucket out there. I start to get excited. I drag my body that feel pain all the time now and go up the slope in the parking lot.

Asagami Fujino goes up onto the bridge.
To be soaked in the familiar summer rain.

***

The big bridge has turned into a shallow lake. The four-lanes of asphalt is covered with rain water and it goes up to one’s ankles. The smashing rain comes down at an angle and the wind is raging as if to knock the streetlamps down. The sky is dark. The light of the port is far away and unreachable like watching the moon from the ground. Asagami Fujino comes out into this storm. The black uniform blends into the night. She walks soaked in rain, breathing out from her purple lips. When she reaches a streetlamp, she meets Death.

“I finally found you, Asagami.”

In the sea of the storm, Ryohgi Shiki stands dressed in a white kimono. The red leather jacket reflects off rain. She is also soaked in rain and it makes her look like a ghost.

Shiki and Fujino both stand under the streetlamp. There is about 10 meters of ground between them. She finds it strange that they can see each other and hear each other in this heavy rain and the raging wind.

“Ryohgi…… Shiki.”

“You should have just gone back home like I told you. You’re a beast that knows the taste of blood. You’re enjoying murder.”

“…… That is you. I am not enjoying murder.”

Fujino, still breathing hard, stares at Shiki. What is there are enemity and a will to kill. Fujino quietly covers her face with her left hand. …… From in between her fingers, her glaring eyes show. As if to answer them, Shiki holds up a knife in her right hand. This is the third time they have met. Shiki laughs thinking that there does exist a line that goes “third time’s the charm” in this country. This Asagami Fujino is more than sufficient as her killing target.

“… I feel it. Yes, we are alike.
Yeah…… I can kill you as you are now.”

With those words, the two’s restraints are completely removed.