Volume 1
Chapter 3 Part
3
Translator : PolterGlast
It is said that there
are no frogs in this town. Even though there are no tall buildings, this is
Tokyo, and there are no rice paddies where frogs can hide in large numbers.
Once again, I realized that the croaking sound is a symbol of the countryside.
The spacious tatami room was cool even on a summer night, perhaps because of
its spaciousness.
Over the square low
table, Hikaru was resting his cheek on his hand.
"Two people in a
row are already in the afterlife. We're so unlucky."
"That's
disrespectful."
Thanks to the kindness
of Hikaru's grandmother, we were allowed to stay at her house tonight (Hikaru's
grandfather had also passed away, and his grandmother was now living alone in
this large house). When she asked if we wanted to share a futon in the same
room, I immediately asked to be separated. I was annoyed by Hikaru's strange
chuckle.
The time was 22:00.
Hikaru's grandmother had already gone to bed, and it was just me and Hikaru in
this room. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to talk about this kind of stuff.
The living room we
were in was a large Japanese-style room, with a porch on the other side of the
glass door. It was such a neat Japanese house that I would have believed it if
one told me it was a movie studio.
This town was very
quiet. Was it the soundproofing of the high-class houses, or was it the nature
of the residents, who didn't make unnecessary noise? It was as if the entire
area had a strong sound-absorbing effect, and a silent space spread out.
"Are you feeling
lonely right now?"
As soon as I said
that, I realized it was a thoughtless question.
"What are you
saying so suddenly?"
"...Both of your
parents are dead. Don't you feel lonely?" I continued hesitantly.
"No, I
don't," Hikaru said clearly.
"No guilt or
anything?"
"Yeah."
Having committed two
murders, he was surprisingly calm. Was he good at covering it up, or was he
just mentally tough?
"What's wrong?
Why are you asking that?"
"I was just
trying to prepare myself."
I knew from the moment
I got involved in this game that I would probably end up killing someone. But
thinking about it again, I wanted to be mentally prepared. I wanted to have
some idea of how my heart would react to killing someone. ...I don't know if
hearing his story will be helpful though.
That's because Hikaru
showed almost no change in attitude before and after killing someone (or maybe
I just didn't notice). I don't think I can remain as calm as he is, even if I
can kill someone.
"To begin with, I
don't really understand what killing intent is. I've never strongly hated
anyone. So I can't imagine myself killing someone."
"You don't have
to think too deeply about it. It's just a game."
Hikaru smiled with a
crooked mouth.
"It's a very
inappropriate game, though?" I muttered.
Although he calls it a
game, Hikaru doesn't seem to be so committed to the rule he initially set of
"killing one person a day". He doesn't seem to have any intention of
making up for the fact that he couldn't kill both of them today. Maybe he just
wants to act cautiously according to his original plan, but that contradicts
the fact that he tried to kill his real father today and tomorrow.
Perhaps this game is
just a spice for his getaway. The murder is just a way to pass the time, while
the game is just an escape to keep him from being arrested until the end of the
summer.
Still, it was a
terrible game, I thought to myself again. I was amazed at myself for enjoying
this absurd situation.
I turned on my
smartphone and opened the Notepad app.
The novel I had been
writing was saved there, and I created a new page.
Since yesterday, I
have been thinking that it would be interesting to write a novel about this
strange getaway. If the reality is stranger than fiction, then I might as well
turn it into a novel.
With the setting of an
escape at the end of summer and the dark element of a killing game, I felt
excited. I thought I could definitely write something interesting. I wouldn't
post it online when I finished it, and I would never show it to Hikaru.
"Are you writing
a novel?" Hikaru asked.
"I didn't write
anything," I said.
Silence.
We stared at each
other like cats before a fight.
"Let me
see!"
"No!"
When Hikaru reached
out for my phone, I leaned back to avoid him. For some reason, Hikaru got really
worked up and came around the table from the opposite side. He lunged at me, so
I dropped the phone I was holding in my right hand and tried to catch it with
my left.
I wasn't sure if it
would be okay to show him since I hadn't written much yet, but because of
Hikaru's sudden aggression, I found myself flipping a strange switch. I
absolutely had to protect my phone.
The screen, which only
had the first three lines written on it, fell vertically.
At that moment, my
body tilted back and I collapsed onto the tatami mat.
Silence followed once
again. I blinked a few times, and as soon as I realized what was happening, I
was overwhelmed by an incredible sense of shame.
"...Could you
please move aside?"
I said while avoiding
Hikaru's eyes.
I wanted him to move
away as soon as possible. However, Hikaru just stared at me and didn't move.
"I like your
eyes, Rin," Hikaru said.
"What are you
talking about so suddenly?"
Hikaru brought his
already too-close face even closer.
"They're dark,
deep, and... beautiful, like the deep sea."
He was so close that I
could feel his breath and his nose was almost touching mine.
My eyelashes fluttered
with each blink. The seductive quality that oozed from every movement he made
made my head spin.
"...Get away from
me quickly."
"What, are you
embarrassed?"
Hikaru squinted his
eyes slightly and smiled with a slight upturn of his lips.
How could I not be
embarrassed by this?
"No, I'm
not."
"Brat."
"...Huh!?!?"
I jumped up violently.
Using all my strength, I pushed Hikaru's chest and pushed him away. Despite the
difference in our physiques, perhaps due to a burst of adrenaline, Hikaru
easily fell backward.
I coldly glanced at
Hikaru, who was rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't ever do
that again. If you do it again, the next person I 'want to kill' will be
you."
"...I'll be
careful then."
I don't think he's
remorseful at all.
I sighed heavily and
retrieved my phone, which had flown away when I pushed Hikaru. Luckily, the
screen wasn't scratched.
"Speaking of
which," Hikaru said, returning to his original position.
"What now?"
"Your last name
was Natsuki."
"So what?"
I replied, still
looking at my phone.
When Hikaru remained
silent, I raised my face up, wondering what was going on.
"...Why are you
laughing?"
"Fate,
perhaps?"
"Ugh, that's
creepy, so stop it."
I scrunched up my face
so much that it was about to distort, and Hikaru laughed and said, "You've
got a weird face". I thought I was going to get goosebumps.
"Natsuno and
Natsuki. It's pretty rare to have a last name with the character for 'summer'
in it."
"But yours used
to be Sayama," I said. "And besides, I'm now Yorukaze."
Hikaru said,
"That's true" and went silent. I also looked down at my phone.
"But I think this
is fate."
Hikaru muttered to
himself, but I didn't pay much attention and responded with a noncommittal
"Oh" and "Haa".
---
Once I got into futon,
I couldn't sleep.
Even though I was
supposed to be tired from the long journey, my brain was strangely awake, and
thoughts kept popping into my head. It was probably because my mind hadn't
calmed down after trying to kill someone for the first time.
Hikaru has always had
trouble sleeping, to begin with. We decided to take a day off tomorrow and stay
up late tonight. Hikaru said that it would be okay to have a day like this on
our getaway.
We decided to spend
the night watching a movie. Hikaru had brought a DVD of “Hymn of Summer” and we
played it on the latest model TV, which did not fit in the Japanese-style room.
Kaito, who had killed
his classmate, ends up going on a getaway journey with his childhood friend,
Masaki. They take a train, get off at an unmanned station, travel through
mountains and seas, and go to a place where no one knows them.
While watching this
beautiful scenery with Masaki, he could forget the dark feeling of being a
murderer for a while.
The blue sea and white
beach, the summer mountains and blue sky, the dazzling contrast of colors. A
vivid scenery burned into my mind. A nostalgia that tightened my chest.
They were chased by
the police along the way, but they ran laughing with their stolen motorbikes.
The story ends with them running off into the sunset, having escaped from many
adults in a dangerous way. I wonder what happened to them after that.
As I stared at the end
credits, I wondered where they ended up.
By the time I got
under the futon, it had already begun to get light outside, after having
watched the movie dozens of times.
---
August 27th.
When I woke up, it was
already around noon.
Having been woken up
by Hikaru, who was awake early even though we had stayed up late together, I
got ready, rubbed my sleepy eyes, thanked Hikaru's grandmother, and headed for
Tokyo Station.
I realized it was
Sunday when I noticed an unusually large crowd of people. I checked my smartphone
calendar and realized for the first time. My sense of days had become
distorted.
I slept the entire
time on the Shinkansen, so when I arrived at my destination, it felt like
teleportation. Hikaru seemed to have finished reading the novel he bought at
the station by this time.
We arrived at the
local station around 17:00.
Since we were on the
run, maybe we should go somewhere far away from our hometown. Besides, it was
risky for Hikaru, who had committed murder. At first, we discussed moving to
Hokkaido or Kyushu for no particular reason. It would be wonderful to travel
until the end of summer. The farther the destination, the better.
However, in the end,
we returned to the cloudy town of Hokuriku.
It was Hikaru who
suggested this. He said it would be more convenient to continue the killing
game in his hometown, where he knew people. I, too, felt uncomfortable taking
the life of a complete stranger, so I went along with his suggestion. It might
be dangerous to stay in the area where the crime was committed, but we could
probably escape until August 31st.
The air in Hokuriku
feels lighter than in Tokyo. Perhaps it's because the air in the countryside is
clearer and richer than the air in the city.
"Maybe you should
buy some glasses after all."
As I tapped my IC card
to pass through the ticket gate, I said to Hikaru, who was ahead of me on the
other side.
Hikaru was wearing a
hat and covering his face with a mask. I suggested that he should also cover
his eyes, but he refused, saying it would make him stand out more. Even as it
was, his acquaintances would probably recognize him.
"I don't know if
the police are still looking for me, but I think we should reduce our
exposure."
If the bodies of his
mother and stepfather are found, the first person to be suspected will be the
missing son.
"You're right, we
have to act carefully," I nodded.
Hikaru's behavior was
so normal that I doubted he had actually killed anyone. I heard that he had
hidden the bodies so they wouldn't be found immediately, but it was only a
matter of time before they were found. If the police started searching for
Hikaru in earnest after the bodies were discovered, I think he would be found
in an instant.
"You should be
more cautious, Hikaru. You should be more aware that you're a murderer."
"I'll do my
best."
To an outsider, we
looked like a pair of friends joking around, returning from a weekend trip. No
one would suspect we had just failed to kill someone, or that one of us was
already a murderer who had killed two people. It was absurd when one thought
about it.
On the way to the
escalator leading out of the station, I made eye contact with a girl walking
towards us.
"Eh..."
It was Misaki. She was
probably on her way home from somewhere. She was dressed in casual clothes and
did not wear glasses, so I could not recognize her from a distance.
I tried to wave and
end it with a small, "What a coincidence," but she stood in front of
us with a strangely serious look on her face. Hikaru and I stopped reluctantly.
"Were you two
going somewhere?"
"Well, something
like that," I replied vaguely.
Hikaru was looking
into the distance without saying a word. He was clearly disinterested.
Misaki realized that
the person next to me was Natsuno Hikaru. That was why I told him to cover his
face properly.
"I was
worried," Misaki said seriously. "You haven't been to school since
the first day, and you haven't replied to my LINE messages."
I apologized, but
Misaki's stern expression didn't soften.
"Are you dating
Natsuno-senpai, Rin-chan?"
"No," I
replied immediately.
Misaki opened her
mouth as if she wanted to say something, but she ended up staying silent.
Wanting to leave this place as soon as possible, I said, "Is that
all?" and passed by her. Hikaru followed me silently. Misaki didn't follow.
Until recently, I
thought Misaki was the person closest to me, among all the people around me.
―But that's probably not true. As I watched Hikaru walking in front of me, I
was certain of it.
Misaki probably
wouldn't feel anything looking at the old bus stop by the sea or the cumulus
clouds on a summer day. She's different from us.
"Well, see you at
school then," I said, turning around. I don't know if that day will ever
come, though.
---
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