Murderer in the Flower of Death Page 4

  “Hee-hee. Thank you very much, Mr. Kamiya, and Miss Eiri, too—”

  She stared at Shinji’s extended hand, the barest hint of disgust passing over her expression. “Could you put that filthy paw away?”

  For a moment Shinji’s beaming exterior cracked at the insult, but he quickly recovered, flashing her a twisted smile. “Dirty, me? That’s simply too cruel! I may be a certified sadist, it’s true, but lately I’ve been coming around to masochi—”

  “Are you deaf?” Eiri interrupted. “If you don’t put that hand away, I’m gonna lop your arm off.” And as soon as she’d finished spitting the words in his face, Eiri returned her attention to her manicure.

  For a moment, Shinji said nothing, lowering his hand with a blank expression. But then, he broke into another eerie grin. “I see, I see…so very interesting. I don’t hate girls like you, you know. It makes me want to kill you even more! I really want to get to know you now, hmm?” Shinji’s eyes crawled up Eiri’s crossed legs toward her short-hemmed skirt.

  “…Okay, whatever, would you piss off?” she answered, intentionally uncrossing and recrossing her legs. “How annoying.” Eiri yawned, long eyelashes fluttering provocatively.

  Shinji narrowed his eyes and, shifting his gaze from Eiri’s thighs, looked at Kyousuke and shrugged. “It appears that I was intruding after all. Nothing to do but graciously withdraw. Have fun, you two. I’ll see you later, Mr. Kamiya…and you, too, Eiri.” And with that, he clapped Kyousuke lightly on the shoulder and strolled away, all smiles and carefree demeanor…except for the bone-chilling look in his eyes. Kyousuke shuddered and hoped he’d been imagining that icy gaze.

  “…How annoying,” Eiri remarked acridly, staring at Shinji’s back as he left the classroom. “It’d be better if he died.”

  Kyousuke looked at her with a mix of awe and fear. “Hey, now, when you say it would be better if he died, does that mean that you, Miss Akabane…”

  “Eiri is fine.”

  “…R-right, sorry. Then, Miss Eiri—”

  “I thought I said just Eiri?”

  Watching her watch him in sideways glances made Kyousuke nervous. There was no way that she was really upset about what name he called her…but this girl was the “Scarlet Slasher.” Who knew what might set her off?

  “Um…E-Eiri?” Kyousuke recoiled a bit. “Eh, how do I put it…? Let’s try to play nice, yeah?”

  “Hmm? What are you saying? We’re being perfectly nice, aren’t we?”

  “R-right, sure. Well, if that’s the case, maybe you could stop giving me the stink eye and just look at me straight on? You know, talk to me like a normal person? Or at least stop glaring! It’s making me nervous.”

  Eiri clicked her tongue in audible irritation. “Are you trying to start something?”

  “What? That’d be crazy! And anyway, aren’t you the one starting things?!” Kyousuke replied. “Why do you have to be so snappy? If you hadn’t given attitude to Shinji just then—”

  “Could you try not to say stupid things?” Eiri’s expression had grown focused, almost predatory. Her half-lidded eyes had opened nearly all the way and sparkled like a naked blade.

  “Eh! Ah, I think I said too much, as usual, I…”

  “Didn’t you hear his self-introduction? That guy killed only girls, two of them, and he’s a total pervert. There’s not a girl alive who would make nice with him.”

  “W-well, yeah, but…” But you also killed six people, didn’t you? Kyousuke swallowed the words before they could escape his mouth. Besides his alleged twelve murders, Eiri’s six were the highest in the class.

  Trying to rein in his expanding sense of terror, Kyousuke changed the subject. “By the way, there’s one thing I’ve been wondering this whole time…what did Shinji mean what he said he ‘indulged himself’ with the girls he killed?”

  “Hmph.” Eiri frowned at him. “That’s hardly something you should be asking me.” Rubbing her temples, she recrossed her long legs. Kyousuke couldn’t help but look.

  Perched as she was on her chair, Eiri’s skirt was so short that there was barely any point to her wearing it at all. All kinds of things might have been visible. Actually, Kyousuke was looking right at them. Black-and-white striped panties…is it? Even the girls’ underpants are assigned by the institution! Even so, she really has beautiful legs…but I shouldn’t stare!!

  Eiri sighed in obvious disgust. “Are you an idiot? He…had his way with them. Fulfilled some kind of sick fetish or fantasy. Guys like him, they can’t do it unless their partner is dead.”

  “Y-you don’t mean…?” Kyousuke felt his gut sour in revulsion.

  “You can’t expect me to say it aloud.” Eiri glared. Her eyes were almost completely open, and there was an unexpected flush to her complexion.

  Kyousuke realized that a change of conversation was overdue. “S-sorry…I get it. There’s no helping it, huh? He’s really disgusting.” Perhaps Eiri wasn’t as worldly as her provocative appearance seemed to suggest.

  She snorted dismissively. “Right? If you get it, that’s fine… If you actually get it.”

  Eiri turned her face away again. Kyousuke examined her in profile. “But then, if that’s how he is, don’t you think it might have been a bad idea? Making enemies with a dangerous creep like that?”

  “Why?” Eiri’s expression didn’t change at all. “If he tries to kill me, I’ll just kill him first.” Her confidence seemed absolute.

  “…You can’t be serious.” But of course, she was the top murderer in a room full of psychopaths. Kyousuke absolutely did not want to see her bad side. After all, he’d already made it this far.

  “Most of the students here are nothing more than amateur punks, right? And if any of them were thinking about clumsily committing more murders, I wouldn’t even have to bother killing them. They’d be sent to the next world via iron pipe. Like Mohawk this morning.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true, but…” Don’t call them “amateur punks” where they can hear it!

  “If a tough guy like Mohawk was beaten like that, seeing a girl like you… Look, even if you’re the Scarlet Slasher, I don’t want to see you like that.”

  Eiri’s jaw slackened just a bit. “You idiot. That goes without saying, doesn’t it? Don’t lump me together with that trash. It’s insulting. I choose my own opponents…of course, I choose my own kills, too.” Her voice had trailed off to a faint whisper.

  Before Kyousuke could ask something in return, Shinji appeared in the doorway and made a beeline toward them.

  “Tch. Why did he have to come back?” Eiri clicked her tongue again, then returned to working on her manicure. On each crimson-painted nail, she applied individual rhinestones with a set of small tweezers. She kept that up even in the middle of class, and the teacher didn’t say a word.

  “Hello again, Mr. Kamiya,” Shinji began cheerfully. “How far did you get with Miss Eiri while I was away?”

  “How far?” Kyousuke’s brow furrowed. “We were just chatting.” Did Shinji really think he’d come back to find us holding hands or something? From the corner of his eye, Kyousuke caught Eiri giving him a fleeting glance.

  Shinji stared outward like an actor on stage.

  “Come now, that’s no good, Mr. Kamiya! When you meet a pretty girl, you have to close the deal within five minutes! In this class, that’s already impossible, you know… Nope, that self-introduction was definitely a blunder. No one knows anything about me in Class B, so I went over there to try and make a play, but…it’s no good, you know. There was not a satisfactory woman in sight! Oh, there was this huge girl, really monstrously large, and another weird one wearing a black gas mask, but…it certainly looks like our class got the best of the best! Ha-ha!”

  “H-heh…I, uh…I guess you’ve been busy,” Kyousuke replied uncomfortably. Of course there are other classes! But a gas mask…that seems like a little much. Not that it mattered much… He wanted nothing to do with any of them.

  “Oke
ydokey, is everyone in their seats? If you’re not, you’ll be mincemeat!” Accompanied by a raspy chime, Kurumiya returned to the classroom carrying large stacks of printouts.

  Kyousuke straightened himself up in a near panic. Next to him, Eiri stifled another yawn, her demeanor unchanged despite the entrance of their psychotic teacher. Eiri Akabane, huh…? She’s more of a normal person than I thought, but… Of course, it was still a good idea to avoid her, if he could. I’ll just try not to talk to her again.

  “…Hey, Kyousuke?” Eiri wasted no time as the chime signaling the end of class rang. Kyousuke had been gathering the handouts the teacher had distributed, while Eiri carefully placed her manicure tools away in her makeup pouch. “Did you have plans for lunch?”

  “Uh, oh, food. Right.” It hadn’t even occurred to Kyousuke that the next period was a lunch break. As for Eiri’s offer…after everything that had already happened in the first three periods, he really should know better than to accept. On the other hand, this Purgatorium Remedial Academy did seem more like a normal school than he’d expected.

  There were five sixty-minute general education classes per day, carried out in accordance with a set schedule. Japanese language, social studies, math, science, music, art, physical education, technology, home economics, English language…plus ten morals courses. Daily life at Purgatorium Remedial seemed a lot like school life outside the prison industry. The dorms and tests, supplementary lessons and supplementary examinations, all seemed just the same.

  Even the campus was ordinary, aside from the “discipline rooms,” a small number of special classrooms, and the peculiarities of the interior design. Getting off the premises was especially difficult, but within school grounds, the students were allowed to conduct themselves freely.

  For example, at lunchtime, each individual was allowed to have a meal in the cafeteria or get food at the school store. And as suggested by their earlier conversation, Eiri seemed to want to go to lunch with Kyousuke.

  And while there was no boy who wouldn’t be happy to be invited by a girl as beautiful as Eiri, there was one little issue. She may be beautiful, but she’s the top murderer in the class…a genuine killer. However, the person she had chosen to ask to lunch was supposedly the killer with the twelve-person kill count.

  It went beyond a simple false accusation: If Kyousuke thoughtlessly exposed the fact that he had never killed anyone, his situation could change suddenly and for the worse. He might be killed on the spot or possibly meet with a horrible “accident.” Letting his secret slip would be suicide, but the longer he spent with someone like Eiri, the more likely it would become that he would make a mistake.

  “Hey, Kyousuke, pick up the pace. We only have one hour.”

  “Ah, sorry…I don’t have much of an appetite. I might just go kill time somewhere.”

  “…Oh. Well, I don’t really care, but…” Eiri left her nail tools where they were, half put away, and turned from him. “The offer stands, anyway. Well, go on.” Her cheeks were a little puffed out. Could he have put his safety at risk by turning her down?

  If so, he’d better make a break for it and fast. Flustered, Kyousuke quickly stood from his seat. “Well, then, I’ll be going.” But he didn’t move right away. No, there was something he had to warn her about. “By the way, about that guy…”

  “Him? Oh…don’t mind him. If he picks a fight, I’ll beat him at his own game.” What worried Kyousuke were Shinji’s unusual proclivities, though Eiri, of course, seemed unconcerned.

  “That’s what I thought. But just in case…be careful.”

  Shinji stood alongside the wall at the back of the classroom, talking with two other male students: Usami and Oonogi—the eerie hunchback kid and the dreadlocked guy with dark skin. While they spoke, they occasionally glanced over at Kyousuke with conspiratorial eyes.

  As a man, he felt he couldn’t leave Eiri here alone in this situation, but as Kyousuke the upstanding normal citizen, he felt that he didn’t want to get entangled in the company of a murderer and that feeling was much stronger. He didn’t mind being called a coward.

  “S-see you…later?”

  “…Yeah, sure. Later.”

  His fear prevailing, Kyousuke finished exchanging good-byes with Eiri and, giving Shinji a halfhearted wave that was cheerfully returned in kind, made a quick exit.

  Thank God I escaped in one piece. But despite having a moment or two to catch his breath, Kyousuke knew that he couldn’t let his guard down just yet. The hallway that stretched before him featured long rows of windows fitted with iron bars, and the walls were covered in the same sort of graffiti that had adorned every surface of the classroom.

  As he strode down the crowded hallway, Kyousuke tried to put on an air of confidence, hoping to hide his frazzled nerves. Is it really true? Has every one of these people killed someone? Sh-shit… He tried his best to avoid making eye contact with any of the other students.

  The facilities at the Purgatorium Remedial Academy included three main buildings: two newer four-story school buildings, as well as one older two-story structure. The oldest building stood somewhat separate from the others and had apparently been allowed to fall halfway into ruin. It was in this third building that the activities of Kyousuke and the other first-year students were largely confined.

  Classrooms were located on the second story of the building, while the ground floor housed the infirmary, school shop, and cafeteria—even their meals were taken separately from the second- and third-year students. In fact, it seemed that, except for a handful of specialized facilities, like the gymnasium and dojo, the first-years were completely isolated. In fact, Kyousuke had yet to lay eyes on an upperclassman even once.

  I think I can guess why we’re kept so far apart. The Purgatorium Remedial Academy was a school for reforming murderers. Within its walls, the greatest danger likely came from the new students, who had yet to be rehabilitated at all. The authorities probably assumed that if they were allowed contact with the upperclassmen, whose rehabilitation was well under way, they would cause all sorts of trouble, so they’d stuffed them away in their own building and slapped a lid over the whole stinking lot.

  Eh?! Th-that girl! She’s huge! Like, pro-wrestler huge! And that guy over there…his skin is covered in so many tattoos it looks like he’s turned green!! It appeared that the people in the other class, in Class B, were also weird villains. There was not a single one of them with innocent eyes—some carried a devious glint, while others were cloudy with sin.

  Kyousuke quickened his pace, hoping to get out before he got caught up in another stupid situation, but before he could make it to freedom, a clamorous staccato slapping sound quickly closed in from behind. Huh? What the hell is that noise…? Footsteps?! Don’t tell me someone’s chasing me!

  Kyousuke whipped around to see a slight girl with chestnut-colored hair running full tilt down the hallway—Maina Igarashi, the crying girl from before, was barreling straight toward him, eyelids squeezed shut, head thrown back, and wailing at the top of her lungs.

  “Waaaaaah! I give up, waaah! I wanna go hoooooome!” In the very next moment, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled head over heels, crashing right into Kyousuke, who was too flustered to avoid her. The two went flying.

  “Ow, ow… Is that…is that you, Igarashi?” Kyousuke, now sporting a wicked headache, picked himself up, surveying the damage. “Ehh?!” About a meter away, Maina was planted, facedown and bottom up, on the linoleum floor. Her skirt was flipped up, and her black-and-white striped panties were in full view, but she didn’t seem to care.

  Passing students looked on and murmured to each other, but Maina remained still, her dainty frame splayed out unmoving on the dingy tile, and her underpants exposed to the general public.

  Kyousuke, coming to his senses, rushed over. “Hey! Are you all right? Can you get up?” As he tried to help her up, he also took a moment to fix her disarrayed clothing.

  “Uggghhh…,” Maina groaned, showing so
me signs of life.

  Kyousuke was momentarily relieved until the small girl burst into violent bawling. C’mon, don’t cry now! He rubbed the back of his head roughly, somewhat at a loss. “Uh…can you tell me where it hurts? I mean, if you’re hurt, I can take you to the infirmary. That is, if you can stand up. I mean, if not, I guess I could carry you…” As he placed one hand on her narrow shoulder, Maina stiffened sharply.

  “Eee?! …Huh? Ah…s-sowwy. I’b fide now,” she sniffled, doing her best to wipe away the tears. Sluggishly, she rose from the floor, apparently unharmed. Nevertheless, she seemed to be greatly troubled.

  “You wanna tell me what the hell happened?” Kyousuke demanded. “Did those bastards from our class try to pull something?”

  “Hmm? O-oh…,” Maina replied. “N-no, id’s jus’ that th-th-th-the girl who k-killed six people suddenly called out to me. She said, ‘Do you wanna eat lunch together?’ B-but…but her eyes were really sharp and scary…I reflexively said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and she just looked at me even more sharply…I thought she might kill me, so—”

  “…So you ran away, right? I see.” Kyousuke nodded with a bitter smile. He knew just how she felt. The Scarlet Slasher—Eiri—really did have a sinister air about her. Of course, her criminal record didn’t help with that impression, and when you found yourself caught in the gaze of those rust-red eyes, it felt like she was pointing a bloody knife right at you. Who wouldn’t feel like running?

  Maina took out a light pink handkerchief and, burying her tear-streaked face in it, continued, “Oh…I don’t know what I should do anymore… Everyone around me is such a scary person. I didn’t come here because I wanted to, but why… It’s cruel…it’s too much…” She sunk back into whimpers and muffled sobbing.

  Kyousuke let a hand fall on her shoulder. “I’m the same as you, Igarashi… I didn’t come here of my own free will!” Lifting her face from the handkerchief, Maina looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “The people around me are all crazy murderers, and I don’t know what I should do… But you’re different! You’re the same as me, a normal person. In other words, we’re comrades. We’re friends!” Kyousuke took Maina’s hand and smiled.