16
The Arrival
The starry sky after the heavy rain flickered with scattered starlight, as the dim desk lamp silently turned on.
Only after repeatedly confirming that her father was dead drunk and had passed out did Jiayezi dare to switch on this old desk lamp that had accompanied her for nearly ten years, its light occasionally flickering.
Quietly retrieving a diary wrapped in kraft paper from beneath the desk, Jiayezi began to write her journal entry.
I was bullied by Mamiko and the others again today, but I’m not sad. In fact, I even hope they continue to bully me.
Because this way, Kanade-kun will appear before me again and again (heart)-
And Kanade-kun actually stood up for me and talked back to the teacher~-
I like~ I like Kanade-kun, I like how Kanade-kun gets angry for my sake~-
Like, like, like, like!!
But I’m also a bit worried. What if Kanade-kun gets expelled from school because he helped me? I’m so scared… scared that I won’t be able to see Kanade-kun anymore.-
If only Mamiko and the others couldn’t bully me anymore.-
And I heard that Mamiko’s boyfriend is Yakuza. I’m so afraid they’ll cause trouble for Kanade-kun, and then Kanade-kun will hate me because of this.
Closing the diary, Jiayezi turned off the desk lamp, stood up, and went to the window. Through the darkness, she gazed toward the location of Yu Duojiaye’s house on the neighboring street.
How wonderful~ Kanade-kun is asleep, so I should sleep too~
I wonder if Kanade-kun will be very surprised when he finds out I’m his neighbor?
Filled with longing and fantasies about Yu Duojiaye, Jiayezi got up and put on the socks Yu Duojiaye had given her, which she had washed earlier and were still not completely dry.
Wearing these socks felt as if Yu Duojiaye was holding her feet.
Kanade-kun.
Jiayezi let out a satisfied sigh, chuckled lightly, and closed her eyes.
Meanwhile, beneath the desk, darkness began to rise, swiftly enveloping the diary.
On the other side, at Mamiko’s home.
“What is wrong with you? Your mother and I work ourselves to death just so you can study properly, and what do you do? Bully classmates and embarrass me by getting me called to the school!”
Slap!
Struck across the face by her father, Mamiko knelt on the floor with a vacant expression, remaining silent.
The harsh scolding continued, occasionally punctuated by slaps to her head and back.
Mamiko endured it numbly until her father and mother left the room.
Just then, the roar of a motorcycle suddenly came from outside the window.
Lying motionless on the bed in the darkness, a spark of excitement flashed in Mamiko’s eyes.
Quickly putting on her clothes, Mamiko silently opened the door, walked barefoot to the entrance to find her shoes, put them on, and left the house without making a sound.
At the intersection not far from Mamiko’s house, Tojo Yoshikawa, with his dyed red hair and a woman of the night riding behind him on his motorcycle, impatiently checked his phone.
“Tch, forget it. I’m not waiting for her anymore. Today—”
“Yoshikawa~”
Mamiko’s call came from nearby, and Tojo Yoshikawa urged her impatiently.
“You’re so slow today.”
Mamiko stared blankly for a moment at the woman of the night clinging to Tojo Yoshikawa’s waist from behind.
“Let me introduce you, this is Ozawa Masami. Why are you just standing there? Are you coming tonight or not!? If not, say so early so I don’t have to specially come back to pick you up.”
Watching Ozawa Masami look her up and down, Mamiko felt irritated, but remembering she still needed Tojo Yoshikawa’s help to deal with Yu Duojiaye, she suppressed her temper and sat behind Ozawa Masami.
The speeding motorcycle raced down the road, with howling winds roaring past their ears.
Mamiko felt both scared and somewhat exhilarated.
Soon, the group arrived at their destination: the winding mountain roads of Baishi Mountain.
“Hey~ Yoshikawa, why are you slower than usual today? Weren’t you known as the fastest in Qingshi Gang?”Ah, it’s all because of this unlucky woman.” If I hadn’t been waiting for her, you wouldn’t even have the chance to speak.”
Another Qingshi Gang member looked at the two girls getting off his bike, his eyes lighting up, especially at Mamiko’s youthful aura.
Seeing Mamiko’s youthful yet graceful figure, and her tender skin that appeared even more delicate compared to adult women, the man licked his lips.
Putting his hand on Tojo Yoshikawa’s shoulder, the man whispered.
“Let’s race. If I win, let your college girlfriend spend the night with me. How about it?”
Tojo Yoshikawa shook him off without hesitation.
“What are you thinking? How could I possibly-”
Before he could finish, the man waved two small packets of powder in front of his eyes.
“Besides this, I’ll let you have Yameko for the night too. If you lose, I won’t ask for anything. Pretty sincere, right?”
Hearing this, Tojo Yoshikawa thought for a moment before agreeing.
Soon after, with a signal, Qingshi Gang’s weekly street racing officially began.
Mamiko, Ozawa Masami, and several other girls stood at the mountain base, listening to various announcements from the walkie-talkies and the roaring engines echoing from deep within Baishi Mountain.
Amid the blaring DJ music around them, they too began swaying to the beat.
Over half an hour later, Tojo Yoshikawa and about a dozen other riders returned to the mountain base one after another.
“Kitagawa, you fucking cheated!”
The man called Kitagawa, who had made the bet with Tojo Yoshikawa, laughed carelessly without a hint of concern.
“Anyway, I won. Remember our bet~!”
Tojo Yoshikawa’s expression changed upon hearing this, and he instinctively wanted to refuse, but then he saw Kitagawa’s suddenly cold face and the others closing in around them.
Nearby, Mamiko grew anxious, thinking something bad was about to happen. To her surprise, moments later, Tojo Yoshikawa walked over to her.
“Yoshikawa, are you okay?”
Facing Mamiko’s concern, Tojo Yoshikawa remained silent, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward Kitagawa.
“Don’t cause any trouble, and it has to be over by five.”
Kitagawa grinned at this.
“I get it~ I get it~”
Mamiko suddenly understood, then glared furiously at Tojo Yoshikawa.
“Tojo Yoshikawa, what do you mean by this?!”
Tojo Yoshikawa didn’t explain, instead sneering disdainfully.
“What does it matter who you’re with? Aren’t you delinquent girls chasing some ‘hundred-man conquest’ or ‘thousand-man conquest’ anyway? Consider this me helping you out!”
Before Mamiko could angrily retort, Tojo Yoshikawa took the hand of the curvaceous but plain-looking mature woman behind Kitagawa and turned to leave.
“Tojo Yoshikawa, you fucking…”
Before Mamiko’s angry retort could land, Kitagawa and the others covered her mouth, laughing and pulling her into a nearby business van.
“Wait, wait! I haven’t even turned on my camera yet!”
At some point, the moon in the sky suddenly vanished, and even the areas illuminated by the headlights plunged into darkness.
“Hey, whose girl are you? What are you standing there for?”
A shirtless man reeking of alcohol emerged from a tent, exhaling a puff of smoke as he glanced toward a woman standing at the edge of the light, her hair disheveled and covering her entire face.
“Hey, say something!”
“Tch, idiot! Whoever’s done, come out and see whose woman this is!”
Hearing the shout, several men resting in their respective spots stepped out.
“Huh? Someone brought a woman and isn’t doing anything? Let me see where she’s from.”
“Right over there!”
As the words fell, the man looked in the direction where the woman in white had appeared and suddenly froze.
“Are you fucking drunk? Where is she—huh?”
“Something wrong with your eyes?”
“No… I just… I think I saw a hand in your mouth.”
“Huh? You fucking—”
Before he could finish, a blood-curdling scream erupted from the business van.
“Ah!… Ah!!!”
The piercing shriek startled everyone, and they whipped their heads around to look.
A man, not even fully dressed, was frantically scrambling backward on the ground, his face twisted in terror as he stared at the van’s door, crawling with both hands and feet.
“Shion, what the hell are you screaming for?”
Before the angry shout fully subsided, a series of crisp, cracking sounds echoed through the darkness.
Then, under the horrified gazes of the two men and the others who had emerged from the tents upon hearing the screams, Shion’s body was crushed and twisted like brittle noodles.
“Ugh!!”
The sudden horror made some people vomit uncontrollably. Before anyone could process Shion’s mangled body, another sharp scream tore through the air.
“What the hell are you screaming about now?!”
Everyone, nerves on edge, turned toward the source of the scream. A woman kneeling on the ground, vomiting, began to convulse in agony.
Clumps of hair spilled from her mouth, followed by two pale hands that tore her jaw apart like splitting an apple.
Then, a head hanging low, facing the ground, pushed through her torn mouth, splitting her throat open as it slowly emerged.
“Evil spirits… There are evil spirits!!”
Amid the screams, with a sickening crack, the pale face twisted ninety degrees to stare at the person who had screamed. Immediately, a pair of slender hands pierced through the man’s eye sockets from inside his skull!
Panic spread like wildfire. Without bothering to dress, everyone scrambled to find their vehicles, trying to start them and flee.
A disheveled woman trying to start her motorcycle twisted the throttle twice before suddenly clutching her abdomen in pain.
Two pale hands had inexplicably sprouted there. With a grimace of agony, the hands tore through her abdomen and burst out.
At the edge of the city, traffic police were idly standing guard.
Blinding headlights and engine roars approached, jolting the officers to attention.
“Pull over, now!”
Under the traffic police’s command, the off-road vehicle slowly came to a stop. Then, a pale-faced man tremblingly stepped out and collapsed to his knees on the ground.
“Save… save me…!”
A feeble scream echoed, and the traffic officers tensed up, cautiously approaching.
Just as they were about to reach the man, two ghastly pale hands abruptly emerged from the darkness on the ground behind him. Under the horrified gazes of the officers, the hands seized his head and dragged him into the shadows.