Boogiepop At Dawn

by Kadono. Kouhei

  All of that had happened in her mind alone. Pigeon's expression remained exactly as it had been the moment she'd been flung aside. Her neck was twisted, and did not move. She lay on the floor with her limbs thrust out askew.

  She never once moved, never once responded.

  “…………”

  A shadow looked down at her.

  It was the only thing that remained just as it had been in her vision. Black hat, black cloak, a strange, inhuman silhouette.

  “…………”

  The shadow stared at the corpse for a moment longer, but then it turned...and was gone.

  Nagi's reaction was frighteningly fast.

  She ran without a glance behind her, jumped onto her bicycle, kicked the ground, and was pedaling at top speed a moment later.

  “...mmm!”

  The swiftness of her movement surprised Makiko, but she soon gave chase.

  Her legs were still evolving, but they could already reach speeds of more than fifty kilometers per hour.

  ...she chose to run away?

  Glaring after Nagi, Makiko felt like she'd overestimated her. But she soon changed her mind.

  Oh...she doesn’t want the security guards joining in. She’s drawing me away to protect them. I see, well done.

  She grinned. Kirima Nagi would be the ideal prey.

  ***

  The idea had crossed her mind, but Nagi had not really believed Makiko would come running after her. Nagi gritted her teeth tightly, trying to stop them from chattering.

  Try as she might, she could not pull ahead of her pursuer. Their speed was identical...no, she realized that the thing chasing after her was probably not at full speed. She was merely following her prey, waiting for Nagi to tire. Like a wolf chasing a deer.

  What now?

  There was a three-way fork in the road ahead, and for a second she hesitated.

  Should she head toward a populated area? Maybe the police could help...

  No...that was out of the question. Nobody would believe her, and the monster behind her would kill them before she could even try to explain.

  Think! What now?

  Nagi leaned her body abruptly to one side, taking the road into the mountains, away from innocents.

  From behind her came a sound.

  “Ah ha ha ha!” Loud laughter.

  “Beautiful, Nagi-chan! You really are Kirima Seiichi's daughter. Taking the future of all mankind on your little shoulders, are you?”

  The shrill voice seemed to stab her in the back. Nagi shuddered.

  What now? No, I just have to grit my teeth and do it!

  She turned her bicycle off the road and went down the grassy bank. It was a steep slope, and the bike tumbled precariously as Nagi clung to it in desperation.

  “-----------!”

  Fear Ghoul bounded after her with a sneer of a smile on her face.

  What, you thought that little burst of speed would let you get away?

  If she had thought the steep slope would make her go faster, then she was mistaken. Placing herself below Makiko only meant...

  “Ha!”

  With a cheerful shout, the monster kicked off the ground, leaping into the air.

  Twisting as she fell, she hurtled past Nagi as though she was leaping down a flight of stairs several steps at a time.

  As she landed, she turned back toward Nagi.

  Nagi's eyes were opened wide but she did not even have time to brake. The monster's arm swung once, crushing the front wheel and knocking her sideways.

  “Augh!”

  Nagi rolled helplessly across the ground, reflexively breaking her fall like Sakakibara Gen had taught her.

  She jumped to her feet hurriedly, but Kisugi Makiko was already right on top of her.

  She ran, but she had not been able to get away on a bicycle, so she could hardly expect to do so on foot...

  “Hee hee hee hee......! Go on, Nagi-chan, scrabble, scramble, more and more! Pathetic! The high-pitched laughter followed right behind.

  Nagi was running out of breath. Her body was no longer steady, rocking side to side as she ran on.

  Yet her eyes remained the same, filled more with anger than with fear, glittering with power that her current predicament had not been able to diminish.

  ***

  Kisugi Makiko could sense Nagi's fearlessness.

  Even now, there was something in Nagi stronger than her fear. Makiko couldn't tell what it was; she could only discern fear. She had no idea what the other emotion was. Her prior victims had all become terrified much faster.

  The indomitable warrior? Even so...

  At first she had been looking forward to destroying something so strong, but now that Nagi was showing so few signs of fear even while in mortal peril, she had moved beyond Makiko's comprehension.

  “…………”

  Makiko stopped for a moment.

  Nagi realized this quickly, from the sound, and glanced back. She was calm. She knew exactly what was going on.

  “...........!”

  When she saw Nagi's eyes, Makiko felt the blood rushing to her head. What was she?

  I thought fear was a universal absolute! But it means nothing to her? No, that’s impossible!

  Even she must crumble before complete, overpowering fear!

  “Enough screwing around!” she shouted. She kicked a pebble lying near her feet. It flew with astonishing speed and accuracy and struck Nagi on the right thigh.

  “-----------!”

  Nagi fell over, sliding through the mud and right into a puddle from the momentum. The bag on her back opened, spilling its contents. There was a weapon -- some kind of a nightstick -- and several different kits in the water.

  She flailed her limbs, trying to get out, but her leg was numb and her body would not respond properly.

  She tried to move forward anyway, but Kisugi Makiko was already standing in front of her.

  Nagi backed away, but Makiko stepped forward, maintaining the same distance.

  Nagi's back came up against a tree behind her. She could move no more.

  “…………”

  She considered moving to the side, but then she saw a look in Makiko's eyes. She knew that either way she moved she would be attacked instantly.

  Nagi stopped moving. Her lower body was in the muddy water, both hands beneath the surface.

  “…………”

  She glared fiercely up at Makiko.

  Makiko's face twisted so violently she could almost hear it.

  “...fear me!” she snarled.

  Nagi did not react.

  “I told you to fear me! Scream! Cry! Beg like a pathetic worm! Panic!” Makiko shrieked, hysterically.

  “…………”

  Nagi's expression never changed.

  Makiko's scowl grew deeper, but then she had an idea, and her grin returned.

  “Oh, right...I didn't tell you about Sasaki Masanori yet, did I?”

  Nagi's cheek twitched. When she saw that, Makiko gave a satisfied nod.

  “You may not have known it, but...he wasn't human. He was like me. Well, he was a little different, technically, but the same kind of thing. His real name was Mo Murder. His employer ordered him to investigate me and to kill me if circumstances called for it. You see? He was an assassin. He's killed dozens of people. Ha ha ha! You can't judge people by their appearances. Especially when they aren't even people!”

  “…………”

  At last Nagi groaned.

  “You think I'm lying? Aw, too bad. It's all true. That man was using you, but I was one step ahead of him. Because you stuck your nose out, I was able to polish off a powerful enemy. I owe you one,” Makiko said, with a distorted smile.

  “…………”

  Nagi lowered her head, but even now, she was not afraid. Nagi's weak point, which Makiko could sense, remained the same, unchanging.

  It was “the death of someone important to her.”

  Dying herself was far better than ha
ving that happen, and it was her one great weakness.

  That's why Makiko was so annoyed. This left her with no real way of getting at Nagi.

  Was Sasaki Masanori important to Nagi? That hardly seemed likely. He was a stranger, someone she had just happened to run into, but it must have damaged her a little. His betrayal more than anything, probably. Nagi might not be scared yet, but she was rattled.

  “I'm going to turn Sasaki Masanori-san into the serial killer. Instead of me, of course. Pigeon already placed all the evidence needed in his house while he was out looking for me! Ha ha, he was an assassin, after all. It won't hurt him any to add a few of my murders to his list.”

  “…………”

  “You may think you're some sort of hero, but you were played like a puppet by a killer. How pathetic! Everything you tried to protect was an illusion. There is only one absolute in this world-fear.”

  Her voice grew stronger. Nagi's head was down. She wasn't moving, but she was whispering something.

  “.................not...”

  Her voice was too soft to hear.

  *Eh?

  What?” Makiko stepped closer.

  “...not that I'm not scared. I'm just...”

  She couldn't quite make it out. Makiko stepped even closer, her face right next to Nagi's.

  “What? I can't hear you.”

  “I'm just...worried.”

  “Worried? About what?”

  “...that it'll fail.”

  Her voice was very weak.

  “Fail? What will fail?”

  “Well...this attack!” Nagi roared.

  The arm she'd kept hidden in the muddy water thrust forward, clutching some sort of staff It was one of the objects that had spilled out of her bag a moment before.

  “--------!”

  Makiko reacted quickly. The weapon darted past her chin, touching only air.

  But she had not expected the attack, and it unbalanced her.

  Nagi's movement did not stop there.

  “......nargh!”

  With a grunt, she stabbed the weapon into the water. It was a stun-rod that had been altered to remove all limitations, releasing extremely high-voltage electricity into the water where Nagi herself was sitting.

  A horrendous electric current shot through Makiko's body. The water they were in was no ordinary water -- Nagi had spilled her bag deliberately, filling the small pool with materials that conducted electricity well.

  “.... ..aughghghghghghghghgh! !”

  Makiko arched backwards as electricity ran up her spine. A shock more powerful than anything else she had ever experienced ripped through her body.

  While Nagi, on the other hand. ..there was smoke rising from her here and there, but she was standing upright, unaffected. She was wearing a custom-made insulated jumpsuit.

  Of course, if the current had traveled up the water covering her body and reached her exposed head she would have died instantly. It had been quite a gamble.

  “That's why I was worried,” Nagi said, tossing aside the rod, which had shorted itself out. She pulled another one from her belt, extending it.

  “Unghghghghghgh... !” the Fear Ghoul groaned, flinging herself at Nagi.

  But a second later, Nagi's body moved like a piece of paper carried by the wind, and swept the Fear Ghoul's legs out from under her.

  Nagi's hands only appeared to twist lightly. But with that, the overwhelmingly powerful monster spun in the air, crashing to the ground. The movement was less like karate and more like Aikido. It was almost a sort of sleight of hand. The monster's body slammed into the puddle, and then Nagi zapped it again.

  “............ !!”

  She screamed without making a sound.

  It was clear which of them had won. Makiko could not understand what had happened.

  How?

  Why..?

  Why, what, and how had things turned out like this...?

  How can this be? !

  Her entire body was numb, her limbs flailing wildly, her electrocuted body unable to move freely.

  “Why?! How did...!”

  Nagi grabbed her flailing arm, twisting it at the joint.

  “...why...?!”

  She tried to struggle anyway, and then it happened:

  -- Snap.

  Like a dry twig breaking, the arm Nagi was holding tore right off.

  “ .....?!”

  The force Nagi had been using knocked her over. But Makiko showed no reaction to the loss of her arm, just crawling away on her remaining three limbs, trying to run, faster than any human could possibly move.

  “W-wait!” Nagi yelped, jumping up. But her legs were still throbbing with pain, and she toppled over again.

  As she tried to right herself once more, she heard a voice.

  “I'm surprised,” it said.

  “ ......?!”

  Nagi looked around. The person was close by.

  “I did not expect you to escape that danger on your own. I took too long catching up with you, but it appears to have turned out well enough.”

  It was a strange voice, like a boy's, like a girl's, like both at once.

  “Wh-who are you?!” Nagi called out. But the person did not answer.

  “Leave the rest to me,” it said, instead, and was gone.

  ***

  Her entire body felt numb.

  There was no pain from the ragged stump of her arm, just a vague sensation. She could no longer even remember who she was, as though her memories were covered in mist.

  She had met something utterly terrifying. Something very frightening had happened to her. She remembered that much, if only because she was now running. Running away from it, yes, but away from what? Her confused mind could not remember. She felt like she had once had a grand purpose, but that purpose was now far, far away.

  The powerful electric current had caused her evolving body to lose its balance. What had once been growing rapidly was now disintegrating at twice the speed, but she couldn't even tell what was happening.

  For a moment, the waves had crested, but then they passed by, the current washing past her, into the distance -- gone forever.

  There were little popping noises all over her body as parts of it started breaking down.

  Still, she did not stop. She could not stop. She was scared. Terrified. It felt like everything in the world was after her, and she was trembling violently, her teeth chattering.

  “Eek! Eeeeeek.. . !”

  Tears poured down her face. What had she done wrong? How had this happened to her?

  “Eeeeeeeeeee... !”

  She could only assume that everything had been wrong. She felt that just being alive had been a mistake.

  If she was going to be this scared, this frightened, then she was better off never having been born. Why was this happening to her? Why...?

  She heard something in the distance. It was a strange sound-bright, yet somehow lonely. It was the sound of whistling carried on the wind. It was impossible to determine its source.

  She looked up. She'd heard that music before.

  “A proper fight to the death? Like a duel?”

  Those words floated across her mind. Words she had said herself.

  When had that been? Who had she been talking to? She couldn't remember, but she knew there was at least one reason why she could not afford to be afraid.

  Yes.

  Him.

  He was here.

  I have to fight with him. We promised. No remorse. No time for fear I have to face him down.

  “...ah ha!”

  The smile was back on her lips.

  “Ah ha! Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha... !”

  She stopped running, and turned around, facing down the entire world.

  “I'll take you on anytime! Come at me any way you like!”

  Her voice was very feeble, barely able to claw its way out of her crumbling throat, but to her ears it sounded proud and haughty.

  From behind her came the r
esponse,

  “I will.”

  Even as the voice spoke, there was the sound of something slicing through the air.

  She tried to tum around, but she suddenly realized everything was already spinning.

  The sky, the earth, her own body, everything around her -- she could see her headless body crumpling to the ground. But if she could see that, then that meant...

  Uhm...?

  As the world spun, she saw a shadow flit across her field of vision. The shadow wore a strange, asymmetrical expression, like it was smiling. Like it was crying.

  That was it. The microfilament wire snaked out at the speed of lightning, cutting Kisugi Makiko's head clean off. It spun through the air and fell to the ground.

  5

  When Nagi returned, Mo Murder was on the brink of death. His wound was mortal, but he had lived for several minutes despite that -- a testament to the strength he had been given. Like Makiko said, he was not human. Despite his inhuman power, there was no saving him now.

  “...Sasaki-san,” Nagi said.

  “Any last words?”

  Breathing raggedly, Mo Murder tried to speak. Nagi leaned closer.

  “...I'm glad...you survived,” he said.

  “The bug...isn't that bad...”

  That was all.

  “…………”

  Nagi stood up.

  “The bug...?” she said, reflectively.

  She looked behind her. A strange figure in a black hat and cloak stood there. It was the one who had spoken to her earlier.

  “What do you think that means?”

  “No idea. But if he says it isn't bad, then that's all you need to know. He seems to have been satisfied just knowing you're alive. Isn't that enough?”

  Nagi couldn't tell if the figure was a boy or a girl. He seemed about Nagi's age, but she couldn't be sure. There was white makeup and black lipstick on his face.

  “I suppose...but...what are you? You followed me all the way here, but why did you finish off Kisugi Makiko?”