Wednesday
Night
IT FEELS LIKE there have been countless times in my life where I’ve been at the mercy of Murphy’s law—though perhaps it’s only that I’m more inclined to remember the times when things go wrong, while the good times slip my mind.
Tonight was just one of those nights.
Tonight, on the night when Motoda and company were supposed to be sneaking into the school, already twenty minutes into Yano-san’s midnight break, I was still at home—in my house, in my room, and still in human form, pacing a hole into the floor.
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” I chanted quietly to myself, but the black drops were not forthcoming—on this night of all nights!
This was bad. According to Kasai, they would be showing up around the same time that Motoda had spotted the monster before, which meant that it wouldn’t be surprising if they were already inside of the school.
Maybe I ought to have already started making my way to school while still in human form. Then again, it would be much worse for someone to see me transforming along the way.
Thinking maybe there might be some problem with my stance or something, I tried lying down, then squatting, then sitting, but there was no transformation in sight. The worst-case scenario, which had never occurred to me before, floated through my mind.
What if I had already used up all of my transformations?
Though that seemed impossible, if it were the case, I would have no choice but to accept it. Given that I had no idea why I was even transforming into a monster in the first place, it wouldn’t be all that strange for the transformations to just as suddenly stop.
Wondrous things are only wondrous when you still wonder about them. Mysteries should remain mysteries.
Monsters were born shrouded in mystery, and they would vanish just the same.
Which would be great—any other day than today!
I tried to remember the first night that I had turned into a monster. What had I done to bring on the transformation then? Black droplets had suddenly started falling from my mouth. I was startled at first, frightened, with no idea what was happening to me. I thought it was a dream.
However much it had felt like a dream, it was not one.
It was only because of that serious streak I possessed, the one Kasai-san had so helpfully pointed out, that I accepted it so readily. What did I lose, if I became a monster after dark? There wasn’t anything there for me in the night, nothing I needed to protect.
Things were different for Yano-san. The night was her refuge. And the night could be lost.
I was sure she was there, waiting for me.
Was it okay to leave this a mystery? Not to know?
That couldn’t…
“Ah… There it is.”
Quite suddenly, the transformation began. This time, the black droplets spread from my fingertips, across my whole body, as though I was being eaten alive by ants.
I opened up the window and flew out before my transformation was even finished. I had faith in my monstrous self. The droplets shifted around my body almost frantically, and the next moment, I was soaring in streamlined form.
I rushed to the school. It felt like my speed was rising higher and higher, but perhaps it was just my imagination.
Even on this harrowing night, the night wind felt good brushing past each of the black droplets.
Far faster than normal—now that I think about it, perhaps it was only a few seconds—I arrived at the school. I quickly formed a clone and sent it to the building where the guard room was located, and I headed for the block where my own classroom was.
The door of the entryway had been left open slightly.
Was it by Yano-san? Or by the others?
Putting that question aside, I steeled myself for battle, and flung myself into the darkened school building.
It’ll be fine, I assured myself, it’ll be fine. Anyone would run if they saw a monster.
So it would be fine.
I stayed in my larger form, in case I bumped into anyone unexpectedly. I wanted to be ready at a moment’s notice.
I began quietly creeping along. My clone hadn’t spotted anything as of yet.
First, I would head for the classroom. If those guys did run into Yano-san, if they had found her… Well, I honestly hadn’t considered what they might do after that, but it definitely wouldn’t be pretty.
I climbed to the third floor, doing my best kaiju impression as I proceeded down the hall. I squared my shoulders and held my tail higher than usual—though I have no idea if it was as frightening as I imagined. Step by step, I approached the classroom, glancing inside just before entering, but I saw no one within. I typically snuck in through the back, but wanting to see if Yano-san had arrived, this time I tried the front door.
The door opened with a shrill squeal. Yano-san was here. I always wondered how it was that she managed the lock, but now was not the time to bring that up. I timidly stepped inside and knocked my tail twice on one of the nearby desks.
“Come…in.”
I was immediately relieved to hear that insipid reply, but just as quickly felt the urge to make my displeasure known. “Idiot,” I muttered, approaching the cleaning supply cabinet.
“What would you have done if that wasn’t me?”
She replied with two knocks of her own, rather than speaking. Just what was the point of doing so now?
“Apparently, they’re coming tonight,” I said. “You should hide yourself.”
Hearing one more knock, I locked the front door, and slipped out into the hallway. Were they not here yet? My clone still hadn’t spotted anything. It would be best if I could face them down at the gates.
I might as well try looking upstairs, I thought, moving to the stairwell, slowly and quietly.
Now that I thought about it, Motoda had been going on about catching a kaiju, but that was surely just a bit of pretext. Surely those guys had a healthy skepticism about there being a monster. Maybe they didn’t believe it at all and were just sneaking into the school for the fun of it. Actually finding a kaiju would be nothing more than an added bonus. All in all, it couldn’t be that difficult to scare them off.
Honestly, if they did catch a kaiju, what did they intend to do with it? Keep it as a pet? Kill it? Sell it?
This was a kaiju we’re talking about, right? A friggin’ monster. Just what could a bunch of kids do to me? There was no way I could lose to them. No way that I, at night, in my element, could ever lose to a bunch of guys who had nothing but their measly arm strength to boast of.
“Huh?”
It was on the fifth floor that I came face-to-face with a boy, exiting the bathroom by the stairs.
I held back the cry I was about to let out. I hadn’t paid any attention to the sound of water from the bathroom at all, assuming it was just some automatic cleaning system.
“Bwuh?! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The boy proved slightly less talented at holding back his scream. As I recalled, he was one of Kasai’s friends from the baseball team. I summoned up all my strength, body and mind. I shook my form and opened my mouth, evoking the night that I had scared off that stray dog—and roared.
Even to me, my voice sounded sharp, unnatural, more like the sound of aluminum foil being crushed than any sound made by a living being, and the boy was knocked onto his rear end.
Good. He was frightened.
I glared at the boy, still scrambling backwards on his backside, speechless. Then I heard a sound from behind me. As I turned to look, the door of the music room opened, revealing two people staring at me, dumbfounded. It was Motoda and a guy from the next class over. I decided to disregard for now the fact that the music room had been unlocked.