Volume 5 - CH 2.2

“What’s the matter?” Aya asked, perplexed. “Don’t be shy. Come on in.”

Nanami appeared from behind her. “Oh, Odagiri-san. You’re here. Thank you for coming. Isn’t this great, Aya-san?”

“It’s all thanks to you, Nanami-san. Um, I’ll go prepare some refreshments, so please make yourself at home, Odagiri.” She turned to Nanami. “Which shelf has snacks that I can eat?”

“Please make a note of what you eat. I’m deducting it from your pay.”

Nanami watched Aya go with a smile. I frowned.

When did they become friends?

I beckoned Nanami over. She came to the doorway, baffled. I grabbed her arm and walked out of the room.

Gently closing the door, I turned to her. “What’s going on?”

“About what?” Nanami asked, confused.

My head was starting to hurt.

“I did ask you to look after Aya after we restrained her. But when I asked about her later, you didn’t tell me anything, and instead told me to wait. It’s also my fault for forgetting about her, but why is she living with you?”

And she looked like she had completely settled in.

Nanami puffed her cheeks out and put her hands on her hips. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I couldn’t let you see her until now. She herself insisted that she didn’t want to see you.”

“So Aya has been in your place all this time?”

Why didn’t she tell me?

Nanami crossed her arms and cocked her head. “Hmm… She kinda was. Actually on the first day, she melted.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

Aya melted?

Nanami nodded gravely. “Yeah… She turned all white and slushy. I was going to pack the goo straight into a garbage bag and throw it away, but as I finished stuffing it inside, I heard a voice.”

“Oh, no. I’m scared. What happened? I don’t want to die. I’m scared. Please.”

Tears streamed from a lump of flesh.

“I felt sorry for her, so I kept the bag. And I decided to let her live in the closet. We talked about a lot of things. Recently she’s been able to eat rice using chopsticks. And then suddenly the other day, she returned back to normal.”

Nanami apparently did not find Aya’s transformation particularly frightening. If anything she seemed satisfied.

Confused, I tried to understand the situation.

For some reason, Aya could no longer retain her human form and reverted to a lump of flesh. Nanami then took care of her. A few days ago, Aya returned to normal, so Nanami wanted us to meet. But there was one thing I couldn’t figure out.

“Why does Aya want to see me?”

What would we even talk about?

Nanami’s shoulders sagged as she let out a deep sigh.

She lifted her head. “I don’t know. She just said she had something to tell you. Also, Odagiri-san. I don’t like your attitude.”

She poked my forehead, tapping it with her nail.

“Ouch! That hurts, Nanami-san!”

“She had it rough. You should be more happy. Lie like an adult!”

She dug her nail deep. Her relentless attack made me think I was bleeding.

But nothing she could say would change anything. Aya and I had a history. She gave Aya a knife, made me drink blood, and served the fox. I also remembered her sorrowful questions. But we were never close enough to talk over a cup of tea.

After twisting her fingernail a bit, Nanami put her hands back on her hips. Wearing a scowl, she whirled around. Her soft pigtails swayed.

She gripped the doorknob firmly. “It’s not a big deal, I guess. It doesn’t really bother me one bit if you two don’t get along. But there is a problem.”

She turned the knob and opened the door. There was a yelp.

“Ah! Oops…”

Aya, who had been leaning against the door, tumbled out and fell beside Nanami. She looked up, rubbing her lower back.

“Ow… Why did you suddenly open the door?”

Upon noticing my gaze, she quickly rose to her feet. She scratched her cheeks in embarrassment.

“W-Well, you were talking about me,” Aya stammered. “I got curious.”

What is this reaction?

Aya’s gaze darted around restlessly. She shot Nanami a pleading look. Nanami folded her arms again and fixed me with a sharp stare.

I thought I saw her pigtails billow.

“Fine. I have a suggestion.”

I have a very bad feeling about this.

Aya and I exchanged glances, then turned to Nanami at the same time.

“A suggestion?”

“What is it?”

Nanami threw her chest out. “To get along, you must first work together.”

“Here you go!”

Bang.

A small hand slammed on the table. Tea cups and snacks bounced. Aya also jumped—a rather overblown reaction. I studied the paper in Nanami’s hand with half-lidded eyes.

“…What?” I muttered.

“Did you not look at it properly?”

Not liking my response, Nanami stuck the piece of paper in my face. I couldn’t breathe. I peeled it off and looked at the contents again.

Pets Frequently Missing.

I read it out loud. “Pets are frequently missing. Please do not let your cat or dog out of the house. If you see anyone suspicious, please contact the local authorities.” I paused. “What is this exactly?”

“Pets are disappearing around these parts,” Nanami replied. “Some say it’s just some random person, while others theorize organized crime. Some are even saying it’s the work of some mysterious monster. Not that I care in the slightest. I do not bother with things I’m not interested in. But the owners are offering a reward for any information, so you two should try to solve the case together. I’ll be waiting for you with a warm meal. Today I’m making miso hotpot!”

She pushed us down the hallway and out the door. I couldn’t even get a word in.

Nanami kicked us out of the apartment. “See you later!”

The door slammed shut, leaving Aya and I outside.

We exchanged looks again.

“Um, Nanami-san’s miso hotpot is delicious,” Aya said. “The meatballs are soft and spicy. And there’s this squiggly thing…”

“You mean shirataki?”

“Uh, yeah, I think that’s what she called it?” Aya nodded, discomfited.

Silence fell.

She hung her head for a while, then suddenly looked up. She shook her head a little and started walking.

“Let’s get going then,” she said. “There’s no point in staying here, and I want to make it in time for the hotpot… and I want to talk.”

I had no idea what to talk about. But if she had something to say, I decided I should listen to her.

Aya walked, wearing a serious expression.

“I, uh… I lost track of my form after that,” she began.

We went up the slope in front of the apartment. She walked out onto the levee and headed westward; she seemed to have a destination in mind. The chilly surface of the river shimmered in the autumn light.

“I’m not sure why that happened,” she continued, walking at a brisk pace. “I don’t know if it was because I had doubts about my identity, or if it’s because you left the fox somewhere far away. Nanami-san told me about it. I mean, how can I not know my own body? I’m just stumped.”

After the incident with the fox, I gave Nanami a brief explanation on what happened. I told her that I got dragged into a huge mess, and that the mastermind went somewhere far away. That was enough for Aya to understand what happened to the fox.

Her short ponytail swung from side to side. She looked up at the sky.

“I was terrified,” she went on. “To have your body turn into a soggy lump of flesh like melted cheese and not being able to revert back. It felt like the whole world was collapsing. Ugh, lame. Forget I said that.”

Aya shook her head wildly and raised a hand to stroke her palm.

Suddenly, her finger bent. Flesh from the second joint to the tip turned white, wriggling like clay. It took the shape of a lily and shook. Then, her finger immediately returned to normal; she probably intended to do that.

“My body reverting back into a lump of flesh broke my mind. I was already mentally unstable to begin with, and it got worse. My body just melted and melted in a vicious cycle. But one emotion remained—fear. I didn’t want to die. It’s weird. I thought living was boring, but the moment my brain melted, I got scared. Hilarious, I know.”

Aya looked back up at the sky. We proceeded to the edge of the levee and came to an intersection. Crossing the pedestrian crosswalk, we came to a bridge over a river. We continued along the sidewalk.

“I guess that’s just how it is,” I said. “Everybody fears death when it looms before them.”

“Is that really how it is? It was my first time, so I was terrified. Humans sure are complicated creatures. I’m a monster, though, I guess,” she said with a laugh.

I thought I heard a different voice.

“Because I’m a monster.”

Why did she call herself a monster?