Hariyama-san, Center of the World 2
Interlude 2: Revival for No Reason
Interlude 2: Revival for No Reason
X Month, X day. Rainy. Body temperature the same as ambient. Other people's body warmth as disgusting as usual.
It's been a week since they came to my home.
They're okay with just the minimum amount of water, but they can have regular meals too. Apparently the stomach and bowels can work the same way they do when they were alive. It's pretty amazing, adjusting it however they like. I wonder if I can do that too?
Neither of them had names. Apparently they've just been calling each other "you" until now. I don't really understand it, but if I think about it, I didn't ask the boy's name either.
At first, I intended to kill the boy, so I didn't think it was necessary to know his name. But now that we're living together, he needs a name for convenience.
My name is related to "white," and my little brothers' names are related to "red" and "blue," so when it came down to it, I named the boy "Gray," the color of ash, and the girl "Rain," from "rainbow." (At first I suggested black and green or gold and silver, but they were against it, so this is what we ended up with.)
Anyway, that led to us talking about lots of things.
I wasn't particularly interested, but in the end, they revealed their pasts to me little by little.
They'd been born in a mountainous region in China, close to a large metropolis. Now they're fully fluent in Japanese, but they weren't originally zombies created from a virus or secret voodoo arts. To put it in terms we understand, they're closer to jiangshi. I had a strong image from movies from my childhood of hopping figures wearing black clothes, but it does seem they can bend their limbs. (When I commented on it, they took offense. "We're different from jiangshi. We aren't just made from Chinese techniques, but Japanese and Eastern European too." But as far as I'm concerned, having seen that movie series, all moving corpses born in China might as well be jiangshi.)
To begin with, rather than saying they were "born," it might be more appropriate to say they were given birth to, created, or reanimated.
Even if they call it Taoism, it seems to be a very different sort of magic. (It's not like I know a lot about Taoism, but that's what they say it is. They went on and on about using corpses in religious ceremonies, but I wasn't interested and ignored them.) The practioners struggled to use secret magic and sage arts not recorded in any book, refining the method until they finally had it down to a science.
Prepubescent children were kidnapped and executed in a certain way — so that their souls could be removed.
After that, the souls of many people were mixed and melded together and placed into the empty shells of the children, reviving the bodies that should have been dead.
That taboo had been committed, that law broken, lives even stolen from humans, just so they could be created. Why did they even exist?
The answer was simple.
It was sad, in a way. They had been created by gamecock owners, so-called collectors or artisans.
That's right. They were gamecocks.
The practitioners who created them had been competing, using different techniques to show that they could make the superior puppet.
In today's terms, it might be something like fighting each other with characters they'd raised themselves in a video game. No, maybe it's exactly like that.
They made their reanimated corpses fight each other. Of course, it was heretical.
Anyway, they're one kind of gamecock made by those creators.
And within the circles of those who use ghosts, the two people who were the most skilled and broke the most taboos were the "parents" of this boy and girl.
Well, from what I've heard of them, those two are the worst kind of brutes.
From a normal person's perspective, just the fact that they toyed with corpses would've made them brutish enough, but they even went to other countries to collect different kinds of corpses and souls. It was really an international operation.
The two practitioners were always pitting their reanimated corpses against each other, increasing their intellect and beauty as they competed. The rings I stole are apparently some kind of catalyst that adheres the corpse and soul together; they're tools that affect both the soul and the flesh, so they have to obey any order given by the practitioners, even if it's something like, "Keep destroying each other even if only your head remains."
But one day — a fateful day for the corpse puppets they called their greatest masterpieces—
One day, Gray was scheduled for a death match with an opponent's puppetl—
And then he met Rain for the first time.
The memories of many past lives and many different souls were mixed within them, causing chaos. They were something like children that possessed nothing but knowledge. That was Rain told me today, but the bodies they occupy are that of children, and it sounds like the practitioners who made them used lots of children's souls, so that's only natural.
In this game, meant to prove who was superior, Gray and Rain were supposed to fight to the death in front of both creators — but the practitioner who had given birth to the boy's corpse puppet used the power of the ring and gave this order.
"Launch a surprise attack... kill her."
The "her" he pointed to was — the practitioner who had created Rain.
In other words, though he had claimed it was to prove superiority, he had actually hated his rival from the bottom of his heart. Or maybe they hadn't gotten along from the very beginning. There's no way of knowing now. ...Maybe he was enchanted by how cleverly Rain had been made and wanted to take her unharmed, but I'm really only guessing. I feel like I can understand someone who loves corpses, just a bit, but their reasons really are different from mine.
Well, whatever the reason, it was a simple assassination scheme… or rather, it was the result of a much too straightforward assassination scheme.
Even so, an unexpected plot twist occurred.
The bout or death match or whatever it was — in any case, the moment they received the signal to start, Gray easily killed the opposing practitioner. He thought Rain would get in his way for sure, but the kill went extremely smoothly. Relieved, he turned around—
And then he saw that his own practitioner had been killed by Rain.
In other words, the two practitioners were rivals to the end, from the contents of their brains to the fate they shared.
When I heard this story, I laughed without thinking. I said it was like the punchline of some joke.
Now that I think about it, that was mean of me. Maybe tomorrow I'll pat their heads and try to make it up to them.
When I look at them, I remember my little brothers' childhood, and it really makes me want to smile.
But those two corpses will always live in the bodies of children, won't they?
I wonder if the same will be true of their hearts?
Will they mature a little?
If they do, I think I at least want them to be happy.
They were killed in a ridiculous way for a ridiculous reason. Their souls and bodies were meddled with ridiculously. They were revived by ridiculous people and made to fight for ridiculous reasons until they were even guilty of slaughter.
On top of that, the "fun" they'd decided on when they came to Japan had failed, when they tried to use my ridiculous self in a ridiculous way.
So I at least want them to live as happily as they can from now on. (They're already dead, so maybe it's more accurate to say I want them to continue to exist.)
Am I a failure as a hitman for feeling this way?
On the other hand, part of me feels like they should become my assistants and help me in my work.
Ugh, ughhh, it's lukewarm.
My heart feels lukewarm again today.
Anyway, it feels gross.
‡
Having written that, the woman with the white cap calmly closed the diary program on the monitor. It wasn't an Internet blog, but a free diary software she had downloaded.
The journal contained details about her work and would be crucial evidence were she to be arrested, but she didn't care. The computer was never connected to the Internet; if it was ever confiscated, she figured there would already be other evidence against her. But if by some accident someone else found out about these data, she wouldn't care. That was her thinking, as someone who went apathetically through life.
'Well, if they read the most recent entries, they might just think I'm writing a novel or something.'
Being surrounded by a group of zombies, meeting the zombie puppeteer boy and girl, and then being reduced to a zombie through her own choice—
She laughed wryly, thinking of those details that were recorded in her diary.
As she finished writing yesterday's entry, her skin was enveloped by the warm sunlight slanting through the window. But she acted as if she hated it. She adjusted her cap again, even if she was indoors, and after a moment of hesitation, she forcefully pulled down the window blinds.
She looked around at the room, considering drinking tea, but the strangely empty room left her feeling slightly lonely.
'That's right, those kids… what are they doing today? They said they'd be back late…'
'If I remember right, they said they'd be heading to Tama Lake or Sayama Lake…
'Maybe they're going to the amusement park?
'It can only be a good thing if they do.'
‡
Near Tama Lake
Sayama Lake, surrounded by a marvelous view of nature.
Also known as Yamaguchi Reservoir, it was an artificial lake constructed at the beginning of the Showa era to serve as Tokyo's water source.
And south of it were two reservoirs divided by a bank — what was commonly known as "Tama Lake." This reservoir was split into the Upper and Lower Murayama Reservoirs, which were built from the Taisho to the Showa era.
The lakes were about 100 meters from each other. Tama Lake was located inside Tokyo Prefecture, while Sayama Lake was located in the Saitama jurisdiction, with the prefectural boundary between them.
Their names appeared on lists of Japan's top 100 artificial lakes and the famous sightseeing spots of Tokorozawa. There was a dome-shaped baseball field and an amusement park nearby. Right now those were closed, but there were various other attractions to be had.
On the other hand, the natural beauty of Sayama remained intact around the lakes, and those who came to sightsee would return fully satisfied.
At present, the water had been drained from the east side of Tama Lake for construction purposes, but the rest of the reservoir was filled with a wide expanse of water that stretched out under the blue sky, showing a side of Tokorozawa that was completely different from the urban area.
On the wide promenade overlooking the lake, two children were holding hands affectionately.
"This is it, Rain."
"It would seem so, Gray."
"Which lake do you think it is, Rain?"
"Well… I couldn't say from here. It's the same for you, correct, Gray?"
The ones calling each other by name were a boy wearing a gray jacket and a girl wearing extremely colorful clothes.
They always called each other's names more than necessary, perhaps because they were pleased with the names they had been given by the hitwoman in white. They had taken temporary names for themselves a number of times, but it was the first time someone else had done them the kindness of naming them.
On top of that, she had even given them names based on colors, as if they were part of her family. Of course the childlike hearts of the two corpse puppets would be happy.
The day they were named, the hitwoman with the white cap faced them and held out their rings. Those rings, which controlled their fates, were more precious to them than life itself.
"I named you, so we're family now. You can run off or do whatever you want."
The hitwoman spoke bluntly and began preparing dinner indifferently.
"Well, if you resent me, you can take it out on me too. Though I will put up a fight."
The hitwoman smiled brightly as she clutched the kitchen knife, but her eyes shone with malice and killing intent.
Gray and Rain looked at each other—
But in the end, both of them began helping with dinner.
Looking back on it, the two of them gazed at the lake and began to speak, sounding strangely happy.
"Our sister Mashiro's a nice person."
"You're right."
"She's really different from our first masters."
"...Shall we stop discussing the past? Simply remembering makes me nauseous."
The girl looked away coldly, no heat at all emitted from her body.
And then the boy whose face was hidden by goggles, who also emitted no body heat, laughed quietly and replied.
"Right… because now our master is Mashiro. Even after she gave back our rings."
"It's the first time we've stayed with someone through our own choice."
"Yeah, so that's why…"
Then, after a moment, Gray looked out at the wide expanse of water and murmured, "We have to play so Sis won't be troubled."
"I feel the same."
With that said, the girl turned her attention toward the "presences" she could hear nearby.
"It is truly marvelous… I can sense a marvelous whirlpool of souls far, far below the bottom of this lake."
"Yeah… I think they're human souls, but they're a bit weird… I wonder what kind of people they are?"
"There seems to be quite a lot of them… they've most likely died very recently…"
Even as they spoke of things a normal person wouldn't comprehend, the boy and girl just smiled.
"And… did you notice, Rain? Lately… the ones in town have started to have a really strong presence."
"Yes. They've been moving around without stopping… as if they've possessed cars or something similar."
"How 'bout we pit those souls against these souls for fun?"
"...That is a good idea coming from you, Gray."
The two corpse puppets wore happy, playful childlike smiles that were so, so innocent—
As they continued to calmly, calmly sense the movements of the souls rising up through the lake.
‡
X Month, X day, continued
Oh, right, I remembered something else I should write about.
The reason Gray and Rain manipulated corpses as a game—
There is none.
They call it a game, but the only ways to amuse themselves that they knew of were the ones they had picked up from the practitioners who made them.
In that case, reanimating corpses was the only choice they could make when it came to playing. Maybe it was more fun than playing video games or baseball, watching TV, or reading manga.
In that case, I have no right to stop them.
I don't really care as long as they don't bother anyone.
Death and souls are business to me and toys to them. That's the only difference between us.
But if they try to kill someone like they did me — I'll slap their faces and stop them.
It's fine to use corpses as toys. But they're too young to take on killing.
For now, at least.
So until they grow up, mentally at least, I intend to act as their guardian. Though I don't know what'll happen after that.
It seems kind of half-hearted. I really hate this side of me.
Ahh, I was right to have died. I was right to become a zombie.
Even though my heart is so lukewarm—
I wouldn't have been able to stand it if my body was lukewarm too.
Ugh, ughhh, it's lukewarm.
Continue to "The Scarlet Death of Cross Kashiwagi"
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