The majority of the park that the girl had gone into was enveloped in darkness, most of the only light being from the roadways in the center and southern parts of the park. Were those pigs lurking out there in the dark? Was this a moment of opportunity given to him by the devil? Or was it a trap set by an angel? Just then—
The northerly wind that had been blowing from behind him into the park this whole time stopped. After a bit, lukewarm air blew toward him from the south.
Takaesu’s body, which was layered in newly bought black sportswear, shrank into itself as he let out all the air in his lungs and immediately drew in a long breath through his nose.
He had never tested it, but if there were dozens of police officers lying in wait in the park, he should certainly be able to pick up on a smell like that. What came in on the southerly wind was the smell of fallen leaves piled up on the ground, the smell of marshes thick with green, the smell of lawns withered to brown…and the sweet smell of that girl.
The thing gave a sharp throb in his lower jaw.
It’s all right, there’s no danger, it whispered to him.
Bite her, bite her, it tempted him.
“…Good idea, compagno,” he whispered.
Takaesu gracefully dashed down the stairs that led from the embankment down to the park.
What am I doing?
Racked with self-recrimination, Minoru sighed for the umpteenth time. It had already been close to five minutes since Tomomi Minowa had run off, but he still wasn’t able to get up from the bench in the Western Garden.
The reason he had come all the way to this park was supposedly because he couldn’t be heartless in the face of her show of determination.
If that was the case, then shouldn’t he have been able to respond to Tomomi’s repeated apologies with the best words he could muster instead of trying to smooth things over with superficialities? But he hadn’t actually smoothed things over at all, because Minoru had just stayed intently silent.
He didn’t want to interact with other people. He didn’t want to increase his memories. If those were his true wishes, it would be better to just confine himself to his room and not go to school, yet he didn’t have the courage. Although he said he wanted to be alone, deep down he was afraid to go off the track that led to getting educated and finding a job. More accurately, he was afraid of the people he knew looking at him with pity and contempt because he got off track. Ultimately, absolute solitude was just a fantasy.
Even if Minoru shut himself away, it wasn’t as if he would immediately vanish from the memories of the people around him. In that sense, true solitude couldn’t possibly exist.
But the people around me probably aren’t as concerned about me as I think. No, I’m sure she’s like that, too. She’ll probably forget in no time that she talked to me and that she cried earlier. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to go back to a life of not being involved with anyone.
As he was telling himself this, he stood up slowly from the bench—that’s when it happened.
“…?”
Minoru got the feeling that he was smelling something strange and furrowed his brow. It was so faint that it wasn’t even clear if it was a bad smell. The smell of something burning, of iron, of beasts… If he had to say, it was the smell of violence.
After emptying his lungs briefly, he inhaled slowly through his nose. He wasn’t imagining it. In the cold air was something he had never smelled before, a foul smell that, strangely, made his heart stir. On top of that, the smell was wafting out from the wooded area that covered the center of the park. From the same direction that Tomomi Minowa had run off in.
Takaesu’s right canine teeth made a light grating sound as they rubbed together. The eye sheltered in his lower jaw swelled as if unable to wait for the feast that would soon come to it. That excitement traveled to all thirty-two of his teeth, and they ground together on their own, separate from Takaesu’s will.
Hold on, compagno. It would be such a waste if we were to make a mistake now, he whispered in his mind, resuming his advance.
He moved through the vast forest at the center of the park with quick steps. Because he was off the path, it would be easy to slip on the wet fallen leaves, and the light from the streetlamps didn’t reach where he was. But now, the far-off city lights alone were enough for Takaesu’s eyes. Like a man-eating shark cornering its prey, he walked on gracefully.
His nasal cavity had a strong hold on her scent. She was close, probably no more than a hundred meters away. If he strained his ears to listen, he could hear the sound of her running shoes hitting the pavement.
Her gait seemed a bit heavier than it had been yesterday, as if she were tired. Of course, it was optimal for his prey to be in its best physical condition, but her being fatigued would make the hunt easier.
From the right side in front of him, the sound of her footsteps was coming reliably closer, as were the regular sounds of her breathing and the rustle of her workout clothes. On occasion, it seemed like she was sniffling. Had she caught a cold, or was she crying? If it was the latter, had something happened to her in the park?
But really, none of that mattered. All he wanted was her properly developed flesh and her well-packed bone.
Her footsteps came closer and closer. He could see the narrow recreation trail on the other side of the thicket in front of him. A small figure was swaying in the white glow of the LED streetlamps.
Takaesu pressed his body tightly against the trunk of a large, towering camphor tree alongside the trail and waited. The moment the young girl ran in from the right and approached the other side of the tree, he spun himself around and came out into the road behind his prey.
Possibly having noticed the slight sound of footsteps, the girl turned around as she ran. Her eyes grew huge when she spotted Takaesu. The teardrops gathered in those eyes glittered in the LED light. He would taste the tears first, as an aperitif.
As he thought this, Takaesu reached out his thinly gloved left hand and covered the girl’s mouth as she prepared to scream.
The vibration of her vocal cords reached his palm but never turned into sound. He came around behind her and pulled her closer, wrapping his right arm around her slim neck.
With his first prey, he had made a mistake when regulating the pressure at this point and crushed the person’s cervical vertebrae. Although the final result was still the same, he really did want to savor the sense of energy that living flesh and bone had when he first bit down.
As he pinned down the fiercely struggling girl, he carefully applied pressure with his right arm. People generally think the mechanism in a choke hold that renders someone unconscious is that the artery in the neck is compressed, stopping blood flow to the brain, but that’s not exactly correct. To be precise, when a place called the carotid sinus is compressed, the vagus nerve overreacts. This signal reaches the heart, the pulse instantly slows, blood pressure drops, and the supply of oxygen to the brain becomes insufficient, bringing unconsciousness.
That’s why, when making someone lose consciousness in a short amount of time, there’s no need to completely wring the person’s neck. By simply compressing the carotid sinus on the side of the neck under the chin just right—there.
The strength drained from the girl’s entire body. Easily lifting up the limp body of his prey, Takaesu left the trail again.
With his canine teeth grating and grating and grating against each other, he began walking in long strides. To the darkness in the depths of the forest where no light or sound could reach.
In the cold wind, the foul smell disappeared and reappeared. Was there something rotting in the woods, or was someone burning trash? It was a big park, so either seemed possible, but it was mysterious that he hadn’t noticed it when he had first come to this place.
The usual Minoru would probably have let it go and walked away, thinking it didn’t matter. But an odd foreboding kept him from making his way to his bike.
Was this really even the smell of
something rotting or of something burning? Could it be the smell of a living creature? Even if it was, the only things inhabiting Akigase Park were probably raccoons and stray cats.
There shouldn’t be any large animals that would do harm to humans. If he shifted his gaze a little, he could see the headlights of cars coming and going over Akigase Bridge just 1.5 kilometers ahead. At this point, Tomomi was surely out of the park and heading onto the embankment path.
Even though he believed this in his mind, the uneasiness that had settled in on his chest didn’t disappear.
With all the things going on, my nerves are shot. I’ll just go home and bring today to an end. You can’t forget things that have happened, but you can put them in the past.
He stepped forward as he said this to himself, approaching his bike parked on the side of the Western Garden. But after just three steps, that smell stimulated his nose again. The more concentrated, more repulsive smell of a beast. It was just as if he had entered the territory of a large, tremendously dangerous carnivore.
“…What is this…?” Minoru whispered as he glanced again at the thicket that was ahead of him diagonally on the right.
Deep in his chest at the center of his sternum, he felt the thing throb. More powerfully than when he had almost been hit by the bike—and more powerfully than when he had almost been punched by the upperclassman.
Sweat had accumulated on his palms at some point, and he wiped them on his pants. Pulling his scarf up to his mouth, Minoru started walking again.
Not to his bike, but toward the jet-black rise of the forest.
Still holding the unconscious girl in his arms, a composed Takaesu walked through the woods off the path.
Up until now he’d brought his prey to his car after using similar methods to capture them, but that wasn’t an option this time. It would be impossible to move her all the way to the Maserati, which was in the parking lot of his faraway hotel, without being seen by anyone or getting captured on security cameras. He had considered binding her hands and feet and hiding her somewhere in the park while he went to get the car, but with unconsciousness resulting from pressure to the carotid sinus, people recover within a few minutes as long as blood flow returns. There was no way the girl would wait obediently for Takaesu’s return if she regained consciousness.
Luckily, this forest was so vast and deep that it was hard to believe it bordered an urban area. It was unfortunate that he was unable to use his favorite dining table, but there was little worry of being disturbed if he used this location for a feast.
Takaesu had walked to the place on the northern side of the park that was farthest removed from the several recreation trails. He put the girl on the ground and noticed an unexpected angular silhouette in front of him.
Muffling the sound of his footsteps, he approached; it was a simple storage shed. The walls were overgrown with ivy, and the paint on the sliding door was cracked. The shed had probably been used to store cleaning supplies and such, but looking at how dilapidated it was, it had likely not been used for several years.
After bringing his face close to the girl in his arms to confirm that she was breathing properly and that there were no signs of her regaining consciousness yet, he laid her down on top of the fallen leaves. Approaching the shed, he grabbed with gloved hands the padlock hanging from the door handle.
It was covered with dust and green rust, but the brass lock didn’t budge a bit when he yanked it with all his might. Even with Takaesu’s current physical strength, it was impossible for him to break it with his bare hands. He could probably get the door off if he threw his body against it, but the tremendous noise would surely reach outside of the forest.
Still, it would be disappointing to let go of such a lucky find. Although the shed was decayed, it should be effective for keeping down voices—and for heightening the despair of his prey. He removed a wet wipe from the “tool kit” in his pack and wiped the dark gray padlock clean. Suppressing his still-rising revulsion, he opened his mouth wide and put the heavy metal between his front teeth.
He tried adding a little pressure. It was as hard as expected. Macadamia nutshells still had a bit of give, but this didn’t bend in the least, obstinately repelling his teeth. He wondered if all of his front teeth would break if he bit as hard as he could. Still, if he wanted to improve any further, he had to raise the level eventually. There were no longer any organic objects that could defeat Takaesu’s teeth.
He wanted to bite the lock in half, not crush it. Takaesu took in a lungful of air as he pictured a chisel—and he bit down with all his strength.
A sharp pain ran through the roots of his teeth. A hard clanging sound rang out, and yellow sparks flew from his mouth.
A second later, when Takaesu slowly stood up, he spat out the object rolling around in his mouth into his palm: a lump of brass he had bitten into a semicircle. The little bit of blood sticking to it probably meant that the pressure had ruptured the capillaries in his gums. The thing would probably fix this level of damage for him right away.
When he pulled at the half still hanging from the handle, the U-shaped latch came off. Feeling satisfied as he gazed at the beautiful teeth marks etched into the cut sides of the two metal lumps, he put them into one of his pockets.
When he cautiously pulled open the door, moldy-smelling air flowed out. The interior of the shed was about three and a half square meters. Just as he imagined, there were heaps of cleaning supplies like rakes, bamboo brooms and whisk brooms, and piles of materials like cement blocks and iron piping. However, about half of the floor space was open, and there was a large blue sheet spread out there that was just what he needed.
Lifting up the girl from where she lay on the ground, he went into the shed, then shut the door after putting her on the sheet. There were no windows, so the interior was sunk in near-perfect darkness. After thinking for a moment, he produced a small LED light from his pack and switched it to lantern mode, placing it on top of the piled-up tools. The weak light faintly illuminated the inside of the shed.
Now no one would disturb them. From this point forward, this place was not a grimy shed but a three-star ristorante.
After removing the day pack that she was still wearing on her back, he took his nonelastic bandaging tape—an important part of his hunting tools—and wound it around both of the girl’s wrists and knees. He stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth and taped over the top of it, wrapping the tape around and around.
When he had finished binding her, Takaesu patted the vaguely conscious girl on the cheek. Finally returned to consciousness, she blinked a few times and focused her eyes on Takaesu’s face.
In her large brown eyes, the color of confusion rose first, followed by suspicion and lastly fear. Finally seeming to understand the situation she had landed in, a muffled scream came from the back of her gagged mouth and she backed away from him, her legs moving frantically, shrimplike. However, she immediately bumped into the wall behind her.
“…Don’t be afraid, Signorina,” Takaesu said in an indistinct voice.
He himself found his pronunciation terrible, but all of his teeth had already begun to swell, and he couldn’t seem to enunciate things. In the center of his lower jaw, the thing pulsed as if going mad.
Takaesu grabbed a large iron pipe from the mountain of cleaning supplies and materials thrown on the left side of the shed. The girl’s eyes went wider still, and letting out a muffled scream, she pressed her body into the wall behind her.
“Have no fear; I wouldn’t use a crude instrument like this,” Takaesu whispered in a muffled voice.
Then Takaesu opened his mouth wide. His teeth shone in the light of the LED lantern, and their reflection glittered in the girl’s eyes. The center of his lower jaw throbbed with such heat that it was hard to bear. All at once, he released the desire that had been building up in him ever since the night of his last feast.
Crunch. The loud sound came from his lower jawbone. Takaesu’s jaw, which had always b
een robust for a Japanese person, grated and crunched as it grew outward.
It wasn’t that the joints had dislocated. The bone itself was expanding through some mechanism that surpassed modern biology.
What’s more, the same phenomenon was occurring in his upper jawbone, too. The sharply pointed upper and lower jaws protruded more than ten centimeters more than normal; Takaesu’s face was no longer a human one. The girl’s eyes were opened as wide as they could go, and her pupils dilated, fear overwhelming her. But the main event was yet to come.
The thirty-two teeth inside Takaesu’s quite elongated jaw made high-pitched squeals as they enlarged, becoming double-layered fangs with sharp, knifelike points and sturdy, ax-like bases.
He was a tiger shark. He was becoming a savage man-eating shark that bit open the shells of sea turtles.
The light that he had placed off to the left projected anomalous shadows onto the right wall. If he had been forced to say, his silhouette of vicious teeth—no, fangs—growing from a long jaw could have been that of a new type of human that had the DNA of a shark instead of an ape.
It would probably seem strange and repulsive to obsolete humans, but this was the ideal form that Takaesu had been pursuing for many years: a robust jaw and beautiful, sturdy, healthy teeth that could bite through anything.
Seeing Takaesu’s mad transformation, the girl could do nothing but tremble violently. To add to her terror, Takaesu brought the iron pipe in his right hand to his mouth and leisurely bit into the end. The pipe was one of the carbon steel pipes that is often used at construction sites and had a diameter of about six centimeters and a thickness of more than four millimeters. Up until yesterday—no, until ten minutes ago—Takaesu’s teeth literally would not have been able to stand up to it even if he had transformed. But the memory of having bitten through the padlock earlier in his normal state gave Takaesu and the thing power.