Story V
Unfortunately, playtime is almost over.
Cats are very keen when it comes to the time of their own death.
The cat knew that it didn’t have much time left.
The cat felt a hint of sadness, but also great happiness.
The cat truly appreciated having met the fox.
The cat, with its heavy belly, was more than satisfied with its life.
The cat thought back to the limited, but exceedingly fun moments it had.
The cat did not recall much about the girls.
The cat, cruel as it was, did not care about its food.
The cat loved both the fox’s playmates from the bottom of its heart.
The cat screamed at the top of its lungs so they could hear.
Oh, there will never be a happier creature in this world than I!
I’ve cursed this life numerous times, but now I feel grateful to the gods.
There was one thing, however, that the cat regretted very much.
The cat, in truth, wasn’t able to—
Then, its neck snapped.
The cat died a quick death.
This is the end of the cat’s story.
This might mean nothing much to you, dear reader.
The cat died. That is all there is to it.
The corpse’s belly will tell the rest of the story.
Yuri was taken to a hospital owned by the Mayuzumi clan.
There were no other in-patients in the special ward built for those related to the Mayuzumi clan or espers with ties to them. Yuri was lying in one of the room’s beds.
Kotori and Shizuki were also being treated in different rooms. They were to be sent home at the proper time. Shizuki was currently asleep, and Kotori had refused to see me. I didn’t know if I would get a chance to talk to them again once they returned home.
After having my hands treated, I was shown to this room.
Since then, I had sat in this chair just watching Yuri.
She was lying on a plain white bed. Her belly, swollen to an abnormal degree, was twitching. There was no life-support equipment around her. Except for her exposed belly, her lower body and chest were covered with a thick towel. Lying on a hard bed, she looked like a fish on a chopping board.
I stared at her bent face.
Her neck was crooked, her spine broken, and her head inclined to the side. Her eyes remained closed. Her head, covered with bandages, was soaked with blood.
If you removed the bandages, you would probably see a huge dent on her head leaking brain matter.
Her neck was completely broken.
Her body was dead, but her internal organs survived.
Only her belly was alive. Both blood and oxygen supply from her body had stopped. Nevertheless, the baby continued to grow inside the womb.
It was growing bigger and bigger.
Yuri’s belly had rapidly swollen up to resemble a balloon the color of flesh. The way her navel was attached to the top of her taut skin was almost sacrilege to the human race. Her skin, stretched to its limit, veins visible, could tear at any moment.
What would come out from inside?
She said she would give birth to Asato.
“With her death, the connection between her organs and the spirit world intensified,” Mayuzumi muttered low. “If she lived, she might have encountered various obstacles. She took her own life for her own wish.”
Mayuzumi was wearing a dress that resembled mourning clothes. Large eyes flickered under black lace. Her appearance oddly suited the gloomy room.
I took a deep breath.
Cold sweat beaded all over my body. Seeing the girl’s disfigured body was far worse than seeing a corpse. Every time I looked at her deformed belly, I felt like throwing up.
Yuri, however, was smiling, as though scoffing at my reaction.
She had a smile like the Virgin Mary’s.
“Wish, my ass,” I spat. “You call this a wish?”
“Exactly. All she wanted was to conceive and give birth to a monster. That’s not something you can take away from her. If she’s happy, no one can mock her for it. It’s troublesome, nevertheless. We can’t let the baby out of her belly,” Mayuzumi declared.
She didn’t dismiss Yuri’s wish, but she didn’t want it fulfilled either. Her gaze was fixed on Yuri’s belly.
She said she would give birth to the fox. She said she would bring the fox back from the spirit world through her belly.
Mayuzumi shook her head. “What’s in that belly is probably not Asato. It’s a much different monster.”
My eyes grew wide. I wiped the sweat from my eyes with my fist. My fingers quivered.
She said she would give birth to the fox. Did she not establish a connection with him through her womb?
Wasn’t her wish in vain, then?
“She might have made contact with the fox, but it is physically impossible for a body in the spirit world to emerge here through her belly. She wished to birth the monster—Asato—into this world using her womb. However, I believe the fox only granted her wish to give birth to a monster. That’s all. She’s not carrying the fox, but a kind of demon. And it looks like it’s way bigger than what you have inside you. It’s probably because the fox is in the spirit world. His abilities are amplified.”
Mayuzumi strode toward Yuri, her leather boots clacking on the floor. She touched her belly. Her fingers, wrapped in black lace, caressed the taut skin.
“I’ve thought of various ways—ripping her belly open, stabbing it, burning it—but I doubt any of them would work,” Mayuzumi said, gently rubbing Yuri’s stomach. “The moment her belly is damaged in any way, the baby will come out through the wound. Since we don’t know what kind of monster it is, it’s best to kill it before it’s born. After all, we don’t even know if we can kill it or not.”
Legend had it that there were many immortal monsters. We didn’t know what kind of monster Yuri bore, but the possibility of it being immortal couldn’t be ruled out.
Mayuzumi removed her hand from her stomach. I took out a cigarette. As I put it in my mouth, I realized that I was in a hospital. But it shouldn’t matter.
There were no patients here.
I lit the cigarette and took a long drag. I flicked the ash on the floor and crushed it with my shoe. I wanted to get Mayuzumi’s words out of my ears. I just didn’t want to do anything. It would be better to stay here and watch until her belly tore open and the monster was born. Yuri’s wish, one she gave up her life for, was too much for me to handle. Every time I looked at her swollen belly, awe filled my chest.
She put her life on the line. No one had the right to trample on her wish.
“Get a grip, Odagiri-kun. You can’t have your wish fulfilled just by risking your life. You’re just scared of this oddity—this pregnancy. Awe is nothing but fear. Don’t let it consume you. This is just a meat sack with a monster inside. You shouldn’t see her in this thing. Also, stop smoking. I don’t like it.”
Mayuzumi regarded me with cold eyes. Ashes fell on my palm. I listened to her in stunned silence. Still not putting out the cigarette, I thought about what she just said. Her words were cruel, but she was right nonetheless.
She was dead. All that remained was the monster nesting in her belly.
“But what do you want me to do?” I asked, blowing out smoke.
I glowered at Mayuzumi. She turned her icy gaze to me, her hand on the pulsating belly.
“Yuri’s wish and her womb are what’s giving life to this baby,” Mayuzumi answered without taking her eyes off me. “Her wish is to give birth to the fox trapped in the spirit world. It works because the fox is there.”
The eyes behind her lace were beautiful and sinister.
“Are you saying we should kill the monster before it’s born?”
I put the shortened cigarette in my mouth. I took a long drag and bit it.
The cigarette fell.
Keeping the same expression on her face, Mayuzumi went on. “Yes. And there’s only one way to kill a baby before it’s born.”
I knew exactly what she was going to say next.
And she knew I had to do it.
“Kill the fox,” Mayuzumi said—cruelly, ruthlessly, mercilessly.
Something I decided to do back then but failed to do it.
I must face the person I left behind once more.
So I could kill him.
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