This special girl's name was Suema Kazuko. As with Makiko's other targets, she had a reputation for being unusual.
“…………”
Makiko could feel the desire welling up inside her just from looking at the file. But if she killed someone this young, the news would be all over the story. The police and the media would go on the warpath, and whoever made the medicine would certainly notice.
She would have to be careful.
She would have to make this girl her first carefully calculated victim.
The intercom on her desk rang.
“Doctor, your patient is here.”
“Okay, send them in.”
She put the file away, and started playing light music, creating a relaxing atmosphere.
“Listen to me, Doctor. Everyone is saying bad things about me. All the time!”
“I think someone is following me...”
“...er. ...no, well...um.”
As her patients babbled on with the utmost seriousness about their absurd problems, she said nothing. She just sat in silence, smiling reassuringly. She was quite efficient as she handled each one. In the past she had tried to be as nice as possible, but now her counseling was brisk and businesslike. Strangely enough, her patients seemed to like it better.
One patient said to her, with bizarre cheerfulness,
“Just between you and me, the world's about to end.”
“Oh dear.”
“Yes, I agree -- it's a shame. There is a terrible evil lurking in the world, and it is starting to move,” he said with the utmost sincerity, but he was oddly upbeat.
“Hmm...but why is it going to destroy the world?”
“That's why it was born! There's nothing else for it to do. It's merely following the instincts it was born with. It's destiny!”
He didn't seem to mind the dire fate of mankind.
“I see. How awful. I don't suppose there's any way we can stop it?”
“Of course not!” he shook his head happily.
“Then what should we do?”
“There's nothing we can do. We just have to give up and wait to be wiped out, writhing in fear!”
“Fear?”
“I imagine we'll all be very scared,” he said, his mood only improving.
Makiko chuckled, “Sounds terrible,” as if it did not affect her either.
“It will be,” the patient said, like a dog with its tongue hanging out and tail wagging.
The Beach Boys' clear voices were singing “Surf's Up/Aboard a Tidal Wave” over the examining room speakers.
***
The final patients for the day were a junior high school girl and a young mother. The mother was a nervous wreck. She kept looking around restlessly.
“Please take a seat, Miyashita-san,” Makiko suggested. Only then did the woman sit.
Her daughter remained standing.
“So. What brings you here today?”
“Y-yes. Um...well, um, this girl...um...”
“------------”
The mother glanced at her daughter with a look that could only be described as loathing. The girl was tense and very embarrassed. She couldn't believe her mother had brought her here. She seemed quiet enough, though-there were no outward signs of anything unusual.
“What about her?”
“Um. . . doctor. . . you've heard of multiple personality disorder?” the mother blurted.
Makiko grimaced.
“Yes, of course.” That was a foolish question to ask an expert in the field.
The mother failed to notice Makiko's tone.
“Th-that's what's wrong with my daughter!” she almost shrieked.
'Now, now, Miyashita-san,” Makiko soothed.
“She is! I'm sure of it!” the mother insisted, stridently.
Makiko glanced at the daughter. She was absolutely mortified and had turned bright red.
“There is a very strange man's personality inside my daughter's mind! There is! He almost killed me!”
“Mom!”
“You be quiet!” The mother snapped, hysterical. She seemed far crazier than her daughter.
“Well, Miyashita-san, I don't know what happened, but multiple personality disorder is, in most cases, a fraud. Particularly in this country-there are almost no recorded cases,” Makiko explained.
The mother went pale, and moaned something, but she was too worked up for Makiko to understand a word of it.
“At any rate, may I speak with your daughter in private?” Makiko said, concealing her irritation. She summoned the nurse, who led the mother out of the room.
When they were alone together, the daughter sighed.
“So, are you a split personality? Miss...uhm...” Makiko glanced down at the chart and continued
“...Miyashita Touka?”
“So she says. Not that I can tell, but...” Touka shook her head.
The music stopped. The cassette had finished. Makiko absently switched it to the next one on the stack, and pressed play.
Classical music. Tannhauser.
“Do you have any idea why your mother came to believe this?”
“...I was asleep, and my mother suddenly came into the room and shouted 'Who are you?!' and I woke up, surprised.”
“You were asleep?”
“Yes. Lately, I've been wondering if l was moving around while I slept, like a sleepwalker.”
“But that doesn't explain why she asked, 'Who are you?' What made her do that?”
“That's what I'd like to know,” Touka sighed again.
Makiko changed tactics.
“Is your mother. . .getting along with your father?” she asked.
Touka looked surprised.
“N-not...I mean...”
“I don't think that's the only reason, but martial stress can sometimes lead to psychological problems,” Makiko said, watching Miyashita Touka closely. There were no signs of anything unusual. Her main source of fear seemed to be her uncle, who had once scolded her furiously but was dead now. She was neither weak nor particularly strong.
The mother, despite being married with a child, held a violent fear of men.
“Well, uhm,” Touka said, flummoxed.
“Well, I can't say anything yet. Why don't we test you first?”
“Huh? Test...what?”
“We can try and find out if you do have another personality,” Makiko said, half in jest. It was her last patient of the day. It certainly wouldn't hurt to fool around a little. Besides, she was curious. She'd never met anyone who actually had MPD, just people suffering from the delusion that they did. And this girl showed no signs of having such a tiresome delusion.
“Eh...I dunno,” Touka said, awkwardly.
“Your mother said...'a strange man'? Try and imagine yourself being someone like that. If you really aren't a split personality, you'll make a mistake when you try and pretend you are.”
“But, I can't...”
“Listen. It is perfectly natural for every human to have more than one side to them. It is not at all easy to figure out if that is really Multiple personality Disorder. Every girl has masculine traits, just as every boy has their feminine side. So there’s no harm in giving it a try.”
“I-I guess not...”
“That doesn't sound like something a man would say.”
“Oh, right. Uh, why, no,” Touka said, awkwardly switching to masculine forms of speech. She even tried to scowl in a manly fashion. Getting into it.
“Okay?”
“S-sure.”
“So, what kind of man are you? You've been described as strange, so you must be unusual” Makiko said, grinning.
The music ended, and the next track came on.
It was the same composer, but the music had abruptly become very stirring. High pitched fanfares blazed away as Makiko waited for a response.
“Man, Woman...you may call me whichever you prefer,” Touka said, her expression shifting to match the music. It was a strange expression, a
sort of mocking smile.
Makiko had never seen anyone look like that before.
“Oh? Your gender is ambiguous? That is strange,” Makiko said, impressed with Touka's reaction.
“So why are you inside Touka?”
“I do not know that yet,” 'he' said, shaking his head. “But I do know my mission.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“I must avert threats to the world,” he said, very serious. There was not a trace of the smile or excitement her earlier patient had displayed when discussing the same topic. This person was calm and collected.
“So you think the world's in danger?”
“Apparently it is. An enemy of the world has appeared near me,” he said, shrugging.
“If I do nothing, the world will be destroyed. I regret causing trouble for Miyashita Touka and her mother, but I had no choice.”
“That's quite a scale you're working on,” Makiko said, a little nonplussed. Touka's performance was a little too good.
But he remained unflappable.
“Not really. Threats to the world are everywhere,” he said, firmly.
His brazen manner was rattling Makiko.
“Are there? But you don't seem very scared,” she said, to cover her confusion.
“I am not scared. Not of you,” he said, staring right at Makiko.
Makiko gulped. She tried to detect Miyashita Touka's fear again.
But for some reason, she was unable to do so.
The music around them shifted to a peaceful movement.
“...what do you mean?” Makiko said, stiffening.
Once again, he spoke with utter confidence.
“I mean...you are an enemy of the world.”
“…………”
The mood of the room shifted.
They had been joking around, but that sense vanished, replaced with tension as tight as a bowstring ready to loose an arrow
“An enemy,” she said, her body tensing for flight, but careful not to let him know.
This thing...
Makiko glared at him.
What is he? Is he really...no, that’s absurd.
Should she kill him?
It would not be hard. They were in a hospital, and she was dealing with a patient. A strange death could easily be covered up.
But...it still might attract more attention than she'd like. If he resisted. . .and their battle went beyond the privacy of the room, she couldn't predict how many other people would get mixed up in the commotion and killed. She didn't care about their lives, but the attention drawn by such an incident would be a problem.
What should she do?
“Yes, an enemy,” he said, so calm she could not tell if he knew what she was thinking or not. The tension mounted even higher, until it reached a level that could only be described as murderous.
Until...
“But not only you.”
The course of the conversation changed.
“To be strictly accurate, the potential to become the world's enemy lies in every human. Humans are like fuses -- they can break at the slightest opportunity. Any human is capable of shaking the foundation of the world without a thought for the consequences...”
He sighed. His manner was nothing like Miyashita Touka's. He seemed to be living in a much harsher reality.
“I could be described as the natural predator of that type of person.”
There was something artificial, something staged about his behavior. Makiko was relieved.
Oh...
The conversation had become very abstract. She started to relax. This was nothing but a susceptible girl's fantasy.
“If all humans are like that, then I guess that does include me.”
“It does.”
“But is everyone that dangerous? I think most people are pretty normal.”
“Being normal is what makes them dangerous.”
“How so?”
“If you encounter something truly unique, people with a strong sense of self can accept that calmly. But if someone is too normal, they will get swallowed by the waves, pulled along by the current. That kind of rampage is the most dangerous. People who are satisfied with being ordinary have no resistance. And...the world is not as stable as those people believe. It is always in danger. People who wish to break the wall down have no shortage of chances.”
His speech finished, he stopped talking.
“…………”
Makiko said nothing either, not quite able to find words.
Only the music broke the silence.
“This is good music. Very beautiful,” he said.
“Yes...nothing wasted, just simple, unadorned beauty,” Makiko said, nodding.
“And...it contains no trace of fear.”
“What do you mean?”
“There is too much fear in the world. It’s frustrating. How great would it be if all fear were to vanish?', Makiko was speaking just for the sake of it, but to her surprise, she found she genuinely meant the words.
Even so, she could not live without fear, not now.
“I see. That is your tendency.”
“That is what will make me an enemy of the world?”
“Everything has many sides. Even with an idea like the absence of fear, there is always another interpretation. For example, 'If nothing died, then there would no longer be fear."'
He stared directly at Makiko as he spoke.
“I see,” Makiko said, meeting his gaze.
He might be right. That might be the truth.
Makiko herself had no way of telling. But she could detect the weak points of individuals and organizations, and might eventually be able to detect the weakness of the world itself.
And then, would she strike at that weak point? There was no question about it. If she got the opportunity, she would have no choice but to ride that wave.
“So when you find an enemy of the world, what do you do?”
“Kill it.”
“...scary.”
“I have no choice. That appears to be what I am,” he shrugged.
“And you have no remorse?”
“None. I doubt the ones who become my enemies would want that from me.”
“Ah. So you offer your foes a proper fight to the death? Like a duel?” Makiko said, chuckling.
“Of course. You don't agree?” he asked, staring directly back at her.
“…………”
The music was rising, building to the big finish.
Makiko found herself murmuring,
“When I die, I'd like to have this kind of music send me off. Not some turgid requiem or sutra.”
He nodded silently.
“If there is such a thing as a God, then
that God would exist only in the future.”
-- Kirima Seiichi,
VS Imaginator
4
“I'll prescribe some medicine for your mother as well,” Makiko said.
The elder Miyashita looked alarmed.
“Oh, I’m not...” she said, clearly rattled.
Before she could say anything else, Makiko jumped ahead of her.
“Oh, no, nothing serious. Just something to help you relax. The best way to help your daughter’s feelings stabilize is if you stay calm.”
The mother backed down without much confidence. She clearly no longer knew what was right -- what was the truth.
Nobody could ever really know if they were right. No one in this world could ever know everything.
“Touka-chan, try not to push yourself too hard.”
“Okay,” Touka said, with a cute, girlish smile. Not a trace of shadow anywhere.
Right here and now, Makiko thought, absently. What’s to stop me from killing this girl and everyone else in the hospital?
Their fear would be very sweet. And if she made it look like she had died as well, that would not be a bad way to conceal her identity from the world. '.
...but...
But it was just
a thought. It would attract too much attention. She was not yet at the stage where she could act that freely.
Not yet...
“Well then.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
And that was all, for the time being.
When the world would be in danger...only God knew.
“God Only Knows” closed.
Chapter 5
Public Enemy No. 1
Seiichi was sitting alone on a park bench, staring vacantly up at the sky when a girl came over and stood in front of him.
She was about ten years old-about the same age as Seiichi's only daughter, Nagi...or maybe a year younger. She wore dark clothes, and had well groomed long black hair parted down the middle. She was quite pretty.
Seiichi was forty three, but she stood there staring at him, unabashedly.
Seiichi looked back at her. He had been working hard on his manuscript and was absolutely exhausted -- over the last three days he had not even taken the time to shave. Or change clothes.
He must have looked highly suspicious. Talking to a child might well get him in trouble, so he just stared back at her in silence. He figured she'd get spooked and run away eventually.
“…………”
But the girl just kept staring back at him.
Seiichi let his chin sink to his chest, looking up at her.
Almost a full minute passed during the silent standoff.
“…………”
“…………”
Like a staring contest, Seiichi thought, a smile stealing onto his lips.
“Oji-san,” the girl said.
“What?”
“You're going to die soon,” she said, abruptly.
Seiichiro raised one eyebrow comically.
“I know,” he replied, quietly.
***
Kirima Seiichi's novels did not sell well.
He was a very popular writer, and he put out books almost every month, but the books Seiichi insisted were his primary work, and devoted the most energy and passion to, sold astonishingly poorly.
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