Cult X

  When she began undressing, Narazaki suddenly found himself taking deep breaths. Why am I doing this? Strangely, he felt as though Matsuo were there inside his breathing.

  “Mineno-san . . .”

  He knew he had already decided not to sleep with her when he said her name. He saw that she was not in her right mind. Men should not have sex with women who will regret it later.

  “Mineno-san, you’re very attractive, and beautiful, and honestly, I really do want to do this,” Narazaki said, pulling her body gently toward his. If he’d been anywhere else he wouldn’t have been able to turn down a woman undressing like that. “But what are you doing now? You’ll regret this later. You had better go back to sleep.”

  As he spoke, Mineno crumbled on top of the futon. Startled, Narazaki realized she was asleep. He wasn’t sure whether to button up her blouse, and in the end, he just covered her with a blanket.

  As he was about to leave Mineno, he heard her say a name: “Takahara-kun.” He knew immediately that she was talking in her sleep, but he stood there for a moment and watched her. “Kun”—so Takahara must be a man. Ryoko Tachibana’s last name had been Takahara once, he knew from the documents Kobayashi had found. But Takahara was a common name. Maybe it’s just a coincidence?

  Now Narazaki smoked on the veranda, wondering who Takahara was. He began to imagine what would have happened had he slept with Mineno, but immediately stopped himself. What’s wrong with me? Of course, sexual desire is normal. But like this? Was I always the sort of person who could only think about girls? Have I been brainwashed? Does the cult promote excessive sex just to make people easier to brainwash? He suddenly began to get hard. He had started imagining having sex with Mineno again. He would press his tongue against hers, and undress her, stroking her body, push her over on the futon. Even if she came back to her senses in the middle of things and told him to stop, Narazaki wouldn’t. “This is your fault,” he’d say. “We’re already doing this. We’re doing it.” He’d suck on her lips. He’d play with her body, enjoying her unwillingness and confusion. It was a terrible fantasy. But isn’t that what everyone is like on the inside? Even if a man acts like a gentleman, he still has fantasies like that. He didn’t feel any guilt over it. But . . .

  There was a woman standing in front of him. Komaki. When he tried to speak, she kissed him. Narazaki was surprised, his eyes still wide open. She pulled her lips away and smiled at Narazaki.

  “What?” Narazaki finally managed to ask. “Komaki-san?”

  “Let’s go back. To Sawatari-sama.”

  Narazaki stared at her in shock.

  “You’re . . .”

  “I was sent here. Just like you. Come on, we’re going back. We’ve been summoned.”

  The image of her happily setting up for the talk flashed through Narazaki’s mind. She was part of Sawatari’s cult? She was a spy, just like him? I had no idea. I can’t think straight.

  “Sawatari-sama told me to get you. He asked why no one called you back sooner. He seemed very worried about you.”

  He’s not worried. That’s a lie, Narazaki thought. But part of him was happy. No one had ever worried about him. No. As soon as his thoughts turned to the people at the mansion, Komaki kissed him again, gently but deeply. Her fingers stroked his ears. She ran her mouth along his neck. Narazaki still could not process that she was a member of the cult. But the situation was progressing.

  “Let’s go back. To our home.”

  Narazaki took her hand when she offered it. His hand moved on its own, as if abandoning the confused part of him. He felt his body follow Komaki, trying to convince him. You could expose the true nature of the cult, and save this mansion. This wasn’t about Komaki’s round hips, or any of those other women. I have no desire to be complimented by Sawatari. Destruction is a temporary thing. I can come back to it at any time. He kept telling himself that.

  When I was with the women at that cult, I was outside of reason. I was outside of logic. A place where I forgot myself. Isn’t there a point when sex is piled upon sex where we can move beyond reason? It was peaceful, he thought. It was like being inside someone else’s nirvana. That place had seeped into his whole body. We were like the naked men and women before they ate the fruit of knowledge.

  Mineno woke up on a futon. She was crying.

  This is the second time I’ve woken up crying today, she thought. What kind of cycle am I stuck in? She noticed her blouse was open, and tried to remember what happened. It was like trying to remember through a hangover.

  Did I say something weird to Narazaki-kun? Why don’t I feel mortified? It’s because I’m not interested in him at all. Whatever I said to him, it doesn’t matter. But what would I do if he tried to sleep with me? What did I do? He covered me with this blanket and left. How can I care so little about him when he treats me so kindly?

  I’m a terrible woman. That’s what I think of myself. I’m a stupid woman who just keeps running back to someone who doesn’t care about me. Takahara-kun. But I can’t stop. My mind . . .

  She remembered her recording, and got up from the futon. Out of habit, she transferred the recording from her smartphone to a USB drive. Once it was there, she felt like it was safe. But what am I going to do now that I’ve saved it? This terrifying recording. I have to stop Takahara-kun. But how? I can’t contact him. I don’t know where he is.

  Suddenly she felt hot, and headed for the window. As she opened it, she noticed herself looking down into the garden. Her mind struggled to process what she was seeing. Komaki was offering her hand to Narazaki. What were they doing? Narazaki took her hand.

  Mineno’s heart began to race. Yoshida was suspicious of the two of them. He wondered if Komaki was a spy from Sawatari’s cult. Had Narazaki-kun been lured in by them? Has he been to the hideout? If they have, Mineno thought. If they have been there . . .

  Mineno hurried out of the room, only taking the time to grab her wallet, cell phone, and the USB drive. If I follow them, she thought, if I follow them, I can get into the cult. I can see Takahara-kun.

  3

  In hindsight, it was obvious they would take a car. From the backseat of her taxi, Mineno stared at the station wagon in front of her.

  Even if she found out where their base was, Takahara might not be there. He might have already left with Ryoko Tachibana. But that’s fine, she found herself thinking. Even if they lock me up, everything will work out. Then Takahara-kun will come back to get me. I don’t care if he thinks I’m a nuisance. I want to tell him what I feel. I’ve taken all I can handle.

  The station wagon slowed down, then came to a sudden stop. Mineno panicked and had the taxi stop, too. Narazaki, Komaki and a man she didn’t recognize got out of the car. Mineno paid the driver and hurried to follow.

  They went down a narrow alley with few lights. Could this really be where their hideout is? It seems like a normal residential area. Mineno felt more and more hopeless. Will they actually lock me up? Do I have the courage for this?

  At the concrete wall at the end of the alley they turned left, passed a home with garish potted plants in front of it, then turned right at a corner with a telephone pole. Mineno followed them, keeping her distance. Can I really go through with this? Mineno kept thinking. I should stop. I should see where they go and then sneak back. Walking along those narrow, dark alleys, she grew more and more scared. What am I doing? These past few days I’ve been off. But I want to know where they’re going. And Yoshida-san has been trying to find their hideout for a long time, too. She followed as they turned another corner. Narazaki and Komaki were walking side by side. Mineno’s lips grew dry. She couldn’t keep her thoughts straight. Haven’t I come far enough? I can come back tomorrow with Yoshida-san. But I’ve come so far already . . . I’m confused. But she kept walking. This is dangerous. I’m not ready, I’m confused, I’m just being swept along by the situation.

  When Mineno wa
s young, a big man she didn’t know once called out to her. He showed her a flyer. He couldn’t speak clearly. He told her that he had a speech impediment, and that he wanted to buy the product on the flyer but he couldn’t explain that to the clerks at the shop. He was embarrassed, so he wanted her to go with him and tell them what he wanted. He spoke slowly, with halting words. She’d had the same feeling then. She knew she shouldn’t go anywhere with a strange man, but she’d felt bad for him and followed. She’d felt confused, but she just let things happen. When they reached his small blue car, she realized she didn’t know what she was doing. Once the doors closed, she wouldn’t be able to go back. It was a special trap prepared just for her. He offered her his hand. It was large and rough. His sleeves were worn and his fingernails dirty. She felt like things would start happening quickly the second she touched his hand. She ran away as fast as she could, convinced that if he could really drive that car, he must have lied about his problem with the flyer. In hindsight, that had been silly; speech disorders and motor skills had nothing to do with each other. But she was just a kid and didn’t know what was happening, and she knew something didn’t add up. It had been the right decision. A few months later she’d seen the same man arguing with someone at a bus stop. He was talking normally.

  Her heart was racing, and she made herself breathe deeply. The lights in the alley were blinking. I keep turning down the alleys they take. Even though I’m not ready. Even though I’m not brave enough. Something’s off. I’m so nervous, and I’m confused. I’m missing something.

  A man grabbed her from behind and a towel was thrust in her mouth. It stunk of disinfectant. Where had he come from? There was no one there—

  “Since you’ve made it this far, we can’t let you go home,” he said quietly. He was strong. This isn’t disinfectant. She couldn’t even attempt to run away from him. This man had nothing to do with the man with the speech impediment, but it seemed to her as if her past was telling her We finally got you.

  “Everything’s going to be fine,” the man whispered in her ear. “When you wake up, you will be our great leader’s woman.”

  “Why are we walking?” Narazaki asked Komaki. The man who had been walking with them had disappeared. Narazaki didn’t know what was going on.

  “We can’t use the parking lot today.”

  “The car didn’t have any curtains this time. Now I pretty much know where the compound is . . . Which means . . .” Narazaki felt a hint of nervousness. “You won’t let me go back?”

  Komaki smiled at Narazaki’s words. She didn’t affirm or deny them.

  If I’m going to run, I have to go now, Narazaki thought. If I don’t get back now, I won’t ever be able to. The man is gone; if I start running, Komaki-san won’t be able to do anything.

  The narrow alley gave way to a wide street.

  “Here it is,” Komaki said. A tall apartment complex rose against the night sky. This is where I was, Narazaki thought. It was hard to believe. Right in this residential area, in this clump of apartment buildings, there’s a secret cult hideout. But that didn’t matter. If I’m going to run, I have to go now.

  The man was back. He was carrying an unconscious woman. Narazaki’s heart beat fast as he recognized her clothes. Isn’t that Mineno-san? Why is she here? Why is that man carrying her?

  “Mineno-san!” Narazaki shouted. But the man ignored him and continued through the open back door of the apartment building. Narazaki ran after him, but several other men were waiting. They grabbed him.

  “What’s going on? What’s going on?”

  The men held Narazaki back, but they seemed uncertain. Narazaki struggled, but he couldn’t break free. “Wait! She has nothing to do with this! Let her go!”

  “Her? Her who?”

  “Let go! Come on!”

  “What’s the matter? We’re your friends. What happened?”

  “I’m sorry, this was our mistake,” Komaki said, stepping through the door. She wasn’t out of breath. She did not appear flustered at all. “She followed us, so we had no choice but to take her in . . . But she’ll be fine. She does have a connection to our group. And the leader is interested in her. She’s not my type, but she’s beautiful.”

  “Let me go!”

  “What should we do? He seems to be quite excited.”

  “We have no choice. We’d better put him to sleep.” They held a towel up to his face.

  I can’t inhale. If I inhale, I won’t be able to move.

  “You know, it’s very strange,” Komaki whispered into Narazaki’s ear as he struggled. “At the last minute, you got scared and wanted to run away. I couldn’t have stopped you; you could have escaped. But in the end, you didn’t run. It’s the sort of phenomenon that can’t be explained logically, with words . . . Because Mineno-san followed us, you had a chance to escape. But because Mineno-san followed us, you couldn’t run away.”

  Narazaki was still struggling, but his mind had begun to cloud.

  “This, too, must be part of Sawatari-sama’s power . . . How interesting. I wonder what will happen?”

  Her head hurt. Her back as well.

  The floor was bare concrete. It felt rough. Sleeping there would shred your clothes, she thought.

  Mineno’s heart began to race. When she’d last been conscious she’d been standing in the middle of a street. Where am I? Is this their hideout? She panicked, and checked her clothes. Nothing had been removed.

  The door opened and a man came in. Mineno tried to get up, but she still didn’t have the strength.

  “You’re awake?”

  She looked up at the large man, and grew scared. His face was beautiful, but also disgusting. She didn’t want to be fucked by this man.

  I . . . I . . .

  “We have to pat you down.”

  Mineno tried to move away, but she couldn’t even make herself stand up. She held down her skirt.

  “Someone!” Mineno cried out. But her throat felt hoarse, and she couldn’t raise her voice. The room was small. There was nowhere to run. She flailed her arms, but there was nothing to grab onto. There was no one to save her.

  The ceiling was low. The dim light cast her and the man’s shadows on the wall. She screamed and tried to push herself away, her clothing scraping against the rough floor.

  “Look,” the man said. His voice seemed to leak out joyfully, without his willing it. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I wouldn’t force myself on a woman.”

  Mineno looked up at him standing there. He looked concerned.

  “Do I look like that sort of man to you? I’m shocked.” He spoke as though he were genuinely hurt. “But we have to pat you down. No, wait a second. Let me get a woman to search you.” He smiled awkwardly.

  Finally a woman came in. Her shadow stretched across the wall. Her hair was long.

  “I’ll wait outside.” The man stepped out of the room. The woman stared at Mineno, sizing her up.

  “Hah, you.”

  “What?”

  “Are you really Takahara-sama’s woman, like Komaki-san says?”

  Mineno looked at her. Takahara-sama. From the sound of those words, and the way she was looking at her, Mineno knew this woman was after Takahara.

  The woman approached her. She grabbed Mineno’s breast.

  “Stop!”

  “Ha! You!”

  Her hand went up Mineno’s skirt. She ran her hand over Mineno’s underwear, over her privates. Mineno tried to struggle, but her body wouldn’t move. The woman ran her eyes over Mineno’s breasts and hips, her eyes full of hate.

  “So this is the kind of woman he likes. Wow.”

  Groping, she took Mineno’s wallet and phone from her jacket. She noticed the USB last.

  “I need that.”

  “Is this something special?” The woman studied the USB.

  “It’s
not important to you. Give it back.”

  “How interesting. I think I’ll keep this.”

  Mineno’s throat went dry. On the recording, Takahara spoke of making sure the leader didn’t find out. Would Mineno’s USB get him killed? She’d heard that many members of this cult had been killed.

  “Wait!” Mineno said. “Please!”

  But she couldn’t move. The woman left the room, smiling.

  4

  “You’re up sooner than I expected,” Komaki told Narazaki when he came to. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine.”

  “Wait!”

  “For what?”

  “Mineno-san has nothing to do with this,” Narazaki finally managed to say. When he tried to get up, he realized that he was on a bed. His head hurt, but the pain wasn’t unbearable.

  “I said don’t worry. Didn’t I?” Komaki turned around and unbuttoned her blouse. “She’s Takahara-sama’s woman.”

  “Takahara?”

  “Yeah. He’s one of the officers here. Practically speaking, he’s number two.”

  Narazaki stared at Komaki blankly. “She’s part of this cult?”

  “Oh, no . . . She’s not a believer. But since she’s his woman, it’s not that strange she wound up here.”

  “But . . .”

  “Yeah, she’ll have to meet with the leader. He might make her his.”

  Narazaki tried to leave, but Komaki held him back by the arm. Her blouse was open and he could see her bra.

  “You were looking for Rina-sama, right?”

  “Rina?”

  “Ryoko Tachibana.” Komaki smiled. “She’s also an officer. And Takahara-sama’s sister. And lover.”

  “What?”

  “They’re step-siblings. They’re not related by blood. And they’ve always been lovers. For ever and ever. They’re a strange pair.”

  Narazaki thought about his time with Ryoko Tachibana. Why did she approach me? Why did she come to me if she had someone like that? An officer? What was she after? His thoughts were mixed up.