Toshihiko said he was feeling unwell and needed to go to the hospital. Kamemura didn’t say a word. His experience and instincts honed over long years of police work told him the young man was just making excuses. But he could hardly stop him from leaving when he really did look like he might collapse at any moment.
Haruko Kadowaki had died at age thirty-three. How could she be responsible for all this harassment? Toshihiko didn’t have an answer. If his Haruko really was the late Haruko Kadowaki, did that mean was he being stalked by a dead woman? But what about the used pad? Menstrual blood was like a symbol of the feminine sex and the ability to give life. How could a dead woman produce it? He didn’t have any answers to those questions, either.
Had Miyoshi just taken some random sample to create his 3D model? Had he known about Haruko Kadowaki? Had he made that model just to mess with Toshihiko? That didn’t seem likely. There’d be nothing in it for him.
Dragging his weary body onto the train, Toshihiko got off at Iidabashi and went through the ticket gate. The streets were dark. There was hardly anyone passing by. The regularly spaced streetlights seemed dim and hazy.
His only choice now was to put his faith in Rumi. She was the sole person who could do anything about this situation. The distance to her office, which he’d usually walk like it was no big deal, felt like a trek that would take hours. His progress was slow, almost negligible. The moment he’d parted ways from Kamemura, the relentless grinding noise had filled his head again.
Haruko Kadowaki. He thought of the woman’s glistening face, thick with makeup. Kamemura hadn’t been wrong. Her attachment to her beauty, her desperation to hang on to it, had been terrifyingly apparent. His head felt heavy. That woman was watching him. He felt pain in a spot somewhere behind the back of his eyes. His legs were struggling to hold him up.
“Mr. Katayama!”
Just as he was about to collapse and fall to the floor, somebody grabbed him by the arm, propping him up. Kindly eyes, somewhat rounded features… It was Yuuki Sayama. With his delicate frame, there wasn’t much he could do to hold up the powerless Toshihiko, and the two of them slumped to the ground together. Even so, the moment he saw Sayama’s face, Toshihiko had felt so relieved that he almost burst into tears. The man’s presence seemed to put him at ease somehow.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold you up.”
“Sayama… What are you doing here?”
Sayama managed to hoist himself up and offered a hand to Toshihiko.
“My dentist just so happens to be in Iidabashi; I was on my way back from an appointment. This is a real shock, though. What are you doing here?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Toshihiko decided to tell Sayama everything. All the mysteries that had been plaguing him. Everything from the incident on the bridge to the direct danger he’d found himself in. Even the business with Miyoshi’s imaging system and what Kamemura had told him about Haruko Kadowaki. Sayama probably would keep an open mind about all this crazy stuff, even if it was coming at him thick and fast.
He could safely dismiss Midori and Kawahara and all the other women from their workplace as possible suspects. He’d be fine to talk about it now. The only problem was, he didn’t have time to go through it all in proper detail.
“Basically, I’m going to someone I know who can exorcise this thing.”
“I’ll come with you,” Sayama said with a smile.
“Uh… No, that’s okay. It’s right around here anyway…”
“That won’t do.” Sayama took Toshihiko’s arm again. “I can’t just leave someone who’s in such bad shape as you are right now. Besides, I’ve seen how hard it’s been on you.”
He hastened to add that he hadn’t been “looking” in a weird way.
“I mean, you’ve seemed so down lately, and I’ve been worried about you. I’m glad you told me all this. This, um, ghost or whatever… I don’t know much about that stuff, but this means we can do something about it, right?” said Sayama.
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks.”
Toshihiko still felt nauseous and like his brain was rattling around in his head, but talking to a nice, normal person like Sayama helped him feel a little better. When Sayama joked that Toshihiko could lean on him if he wanted, it even got a smile out of him. He was just pushing off the ground to get to his feet when he heard a coarse voice behind him.
“Get away from him.”
“Sasaki…?”
There stood Rumi Sasaki, wearing her usual dirty sweater. Aoyama was next to her. He normally wore a habitual mild smile, but for some reason, he was looking at Toshihiko with a strained expression. The glare of the streetlights reflected off Rumi’s glasses. He couldn’t tell what kind of look was in her eyes.
“I was just coming to see you. I…I found out some things,” said Toshihiko.
Leaning on Sayama’s arm for support, Toshihiko managed to plant his feet and stand properly.
“What a coincidence. I was looking for you, too. I’ve also learned some important facts.”
Rumi spoke but didn’t move. Like Aoyama, she stood staring at him in silence.
“Uh… Well, I…”
Unable to bear the silence, Sayama tried to make conversation and failed. If he hadn’t shown up when he had, Toshihiko would probably be passed out on the ground right now. He didn’t want to make the man feel awkward.
“This is my coworker Sayama. He happened to be on his way home from the dentist and—”
“‘Just so happened’ to be here, huh?” Rumi interrupted. “How very convenient.”
She was being weirdly prickly. She wasn’t what you’d call a sociable person at the best of times, but she was rarely outright rude. Somewhat puzzled, Toshihiko went on.
“Come on, Sasaki, dial it back a little. If it wasn’t for Sayama—”
“If it wasn’t for Sayama, you wouldn’t have had to suffer the way you have over the past few weeks.”
He was about to ask her what she meant by that when he noticed something. He was feeling the same throbbing pain that he’d felt back on the pedestrian bridge.
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
The grinding noise wasn’t in his head this time. It was coming from right next to him.
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
His arm hurt. He told Sayama to let him go, then tried to shake him off, but somehow, he couldn’t bear to turn his head and face him.
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
It was inches away from his ears now.
“Yes… I…just so happened…”
Something to the left of him was mumbling the words little by little.
“Just so happened…to find him…”
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
“So…wonderful…”
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
“The most beautiful…smart…kind man…”
Krsh, krsh, krsh…
“Mommy…”
A shock ran through Toshihiko’s left arm. He closed his eyes against the pain. A scream began rising from the very back of his throat. Before he could let it out, a thick palm fell across his mouth. He opened his eyes. Rumi was in front of him, staring at him fixedly, her eyes sharp. One arm of her glasses was broken, the lens hanging down below her eye. He was about to speak, but she just pressed her hand into his mouth again with more force. She was telling him not to speak.
“If you speak, she’ll find us.”
Toshihiko couldn’t even nod. The grinding sound was farther away now, but it was still there. He slowly turned his head in the direction it was coming from.
It was Sayama. He was turning his neck at an unnatural angle, muttering “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy” over and over again in a thin, reedy voice. The grinding sound seemed to respond to that word, starting up every time he said it. Behind Sayama was some kind of black, shadowy form. The grinding noise was coming from there.
“Where’s…Toshi…hi…ko?”
“When did you get close enough to him to call him by his first name?”
Sayama’s head abruptly stopped moving.
“Answer me. When?”
“I’m…I’m his wife…”
“No, that’s all in your head.”
Rumi laughed derisively.
“You could never be his wife. After all, you’re a man.”
“No…”
“Two men can’t get married in this country.”
“I’m…a woman…”
“What are you talking about?” Rumi scoffed again. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? ‘I’m a boy.’”
Sayama let out a bestial howl. The black shadow swallowed up Toshihiko, then stretched out toward Rumi. Before Toshihiko’s vision cut out completely, his eyes met Sayama’s. He seemed to hear him scream that same word again and again. Mommy.
Krsh, krsh, krsh…