NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 107
Blood.
All I could see before me was blood.
In what was clearly just a regular motel room, blood was splattered everywhere, as if someone had deliberately scattered it around.
No, it had to have been intentional.
After all, there were chunks of flesh strewn all over the place.
There were severed arms and legs.
It wasn’t a clean cut; it looked like they had been twisted and torn apart against their will.
Something much larger than the victim.
Flesh and fat, blood and mucus, and intestines were spilled all over.
Did I… did I do something wrong?
Was I not supposed to get out of here?
They clearly said there were no victims. Just before I lost consciousness, Yuka said it. No victims. We did it.
Did they lie to me?
Over there, I see hair. Black hair. If there had been a neck beneath, it would have been neatly severed right at the area, but now the neck was lined up with the hair.
Among the disheveled hair, white ears were visible, along with ripped flesh.
I stumbled forward toward it.
…This can’t be happening.
I was definitely moving far more efficiently than in the original work.
Could it be that this child ended up like this because I didn’t follow the original?
Or was it because they were meant to die anyway?
We had planned to go around tomorrow.
Thud.
As my legs crumpled, and I sank to my knees, the sound that came from my knees wasn’t a solid thud but a squish.
Did I just get splashed with blood? Can a human body bleed this much?
Anyway, my own body was already covered in blood, so being damp didn’t really matter.
With trembling hands, I grabbed the head.
Just before I flipped it over to confirm the face—
The small mouth visible through the disheveled hair suddenly moved.
“—It’s time to wake up.”
A voice that was completely different from the Mako I knew spoke to me like that.
And I screamed.
*
“Kotone! Kotone!”
As I suddenly flailed, a panicking Koko held me tight. It was as if she knew something had to be done but had no idea what.
“Kotone, what’s wrong!?”
I could hear Yuka’s voice too, just as surprised as Koko.
My veins felt like they were burning.
I forced my hand to move and yanked out the IV line stuck in my arm. A bit of blood splattered. Was I receiving a transfusion?
“Kotone—”
“Ugh.”
I anxiously leaned forward, feeling nausea rise from deep within, and vomited everything that was inside.
Everything I ate today spilled out. The still undigested stuff—
And then, something red splattered on top of it.
The voices calling my name stopped. For a moment, there was only the sound of me throwing up, interspersed with sobs and groans.
“Haah, haah…”
Wiping my eyes with my sleeve, I tried to calm my burning throat. My hospital gown was completely soaked and slimy. The urge to just cry, forgetting my previous life, was overwhelming.
Finally, my vision cleared, and I stared blankly at the sight before me.
My clothes were smeared with a mixture of vomit and blood. The smell was horrendous. The metallic smell of blood and… well, you get the idea.
“I’ll call the doctor. Koko, please take care of Kotone.”
Yuka said.
I couldn’t even manage a reassuring voice.
Looking around and confirming that this was indeed a hospital strangely relieved me. So, that scene earlier was just a dream.
Thinking that Mako was safe made the tension in my body ease a bit.
“Kotone…”
Koko held my arm tightly. I gently patted her hand and slowly lay back down on the bed.
“……”
What is this?
I can understand having nightmares occasionally. If something worried me until the last moment before sleep, it wouldn’t be unusual to dream of that concern manifesting.
But even so, was it really necessary for Nirlas to wake me up on purpose like this?
“……”
“It’s okay, alright?”
I replied to Koko, who still looked like she was about to cry. The effect was minimal. My voice came out all raspy.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Koko became even more worried.
“Yuka left.”
But saying nothing felt even more irresponsible, so I answered her like that.
We waited in silence for a moment.
In fact, this kind of thing happened quite often.
Koko isn’t particularly talkative for her personality. Usually, the topics she wanted to discuss were simple and didn’t carry much thought, and as expected, those conversations didn’t last long.
Once she had said what she wanted, and the conversation reached its end, she didn’t talk until I opened a new topic.
But this silence now… didn’t seem like it was because there was nothing to say.
It felt more like there were words she wanted to say, but held back.
“……”
In situations like this, it would be natural for me to start the conversation, but unfortunately, I wasn’t in a good state to do that. Physically or mentally.
After several minutes of silence.
Just as I was thinking that Yuka was taking too long—
Bang!
The hospital room door burst open.
Startled, I turned to look.
“…Kotone!”
Yuka shouted.
Yuka looked fine… she didn’t appear to be hurt. She looked as if she had rushed all the way here.
She rushed into the hospital room and slammed the door shut. She locked it tight.
“Why…?”
“…It’s a Yōkai.”
“A Yōkai?”
I asked dumbfoundedly.
But…
“Yeah, strange right? There’s no ‘sensation’ at all. I didn’t even notice it until I saw the situation firsthand.”
“You didn’t notice?”
“…Aren’t there supposed to be nurses on duty in every hallway of a hospital like this? That’s common sense. When you have patients needing admission, there can be any number of bigger problems that arise. But, there’s no one here.”
Yuka said, pulling out a sword from her scabbard.
“Even stranger? There weren’t any patients here. In a hospital this big. There are no other patients nearby on this floor, at least around where we are.”
“Then?”
I said as I got up from my seat. Normally, Yuka would have told me to stay lying down, but not now.
Well, standing was easier for making an escape than lying down.
Thud.
As I stood up, just as Koko supported me, a loud sound echoed from the door.
Like something was trying to open the door but failed, so it was attempting to force it open again.
“……”
We watched tightly, frozen.
Click, click.
The sliding door seemed to be nudging aside, as if it wanted to open, and the sound came from the lock Yuka had placed on it.
Then, confirming that the door was now opened, a voice called to us from beyond the door, seemingly attempting to reassure us.
[Are you inside?]
A normal male voice.
[I came to check because it was a bit noisy. Are you all okay?]
“……”
We looked at each other.
I… trust Yuka.
In a situation like this, there’s no reason not to trust her.
But at the same time, I also found it a bit odd.
At this distance, shouldn’t we be able to tell if the other side is a Yōkai or not? Both Yuka and I should have felt the creepy vibes.
“Yuka…”
“…No.”
Yuka cut me off as if she read my mind.
“I saw clearly. I didn’t see the Yōkai, but… blood—”
Before Yuka could finish, the person on the other side spoke again.
“Kurosawa-san, it’s time for your medication. You must have just woken up, right? Are you feeling alright?”
“……”
Yuka blinked slowly.
“It seems there was a bit of a commotion in the hospital. A patient was causing a disturbance. I’m sorry, but could you open the door for me?”
“……”
I looked at Yuka.
“Yuka, have you met the doctor?”
“…No.”
Right. I also just heard from Yuka a moment ago. No one was in the hallway. Not a single hospital staff member or a patient.
If there were any monitoring devices on my body, the other side might have sensed something.
Typically, a patient receiving a transfusion is someone critically low on blood. There are certainly many urgent cases, so facilities use equipment to check the patient’s status.
But I was a different kind of patient. Literally, I was just short on blood, and as long as I had blood, I could come back without any wounds.
Besides, there’s no way to know how differently my body operates from a regular human’s. Maybe that’s why Yuka was merely monitoring me.
If Yuka had gone to call for a doctor, that would mean my condition was serious enough. She must have disregarded everything else to search for a doctor in that situation.
Yet here I was, feeling slightly better now.
Why?
…Wait a minute.
“…You.”
I opened my mouth. My throat still hurt and felt scratchy, but I needed to confirm.
“How do you know I’ve been suffering?”
I turned my gaze to the traces of my thrashing about.
The blood bag hanging had completely tipped over and burst. The puddles of blood spreading everywhere were perhaps not what had flowed out of me but looked a bit grotesque even if it wasn’t.
And yes.
How could they know I was in pain?
“I…”
The man beyond the door was momentarily silent.
Then—
Bam!
Something slammed against the door.
Yuka’s body tensed up again. She aimed her sword at the splintered door with both hands.
The hospital room door was just made of ordinary wood; it shattered way too easily under something like an axe.
Well, that makes sense. If a patient locks the door during a fire, it would be difficult to save them. The latch could also have an easy way to open it.
Bang! Bang!
The door was breaking apart, creating a hole.
What lay beyond… was obscured. It was too dark beyond the door—
Thud!
“Guh!?”
However, it seemed the other party slightly ignored the presence within this room. Koko’s hair was enough to hit the attacker through that narrow gap.
Her hair whipped around wildly from the other side. A scream was heard from beyond.
And the more things occurred, the more Yuka’s face filled with confusion.
If the other side was indeed a Yōkai, they wouldn’t do something so clumsy.
“Wait, Koko!”
Yuka shouted at Koko, whose eyes widened a little.
Koko, who had been leaning forward, pulled her hair back and looked this way.
“Wait… just wait a moment.”
“……”
Watching Yuka speak in that confused manner, I recalled a different side of her.
The murderer I thought was a Oni, that Yuka told me not to mess with, or I wouldn’t have been able to do so anyway.
Just a few hours ago, a Yōkai was charging in, so it was only natural that what was happening in this hospital was an extension of that.
But if this wasn’t a Yōkai, could we defeat such a person?
Could it really be okay to let Koko handle it?
Bang! Crack!
The sound of wood breaking echoed, and the hole widened again.
A hand reached in through the inside. It was a hand that had numerous deep cuts on it.
And that hand slowly bent sideways, feeling around for the door’s latch.
Click.
The latch released, and the door slowly creaked open.
What came into view beyond it was—
“……”
A person.
A person with cuts all over. Her cheeks were slashed, and her face was mangled.
Yet somehow, something seemed off.
“Patient, please, this isn’t good for you.”
The wrecked doctor said, as if he felt that his work was being interrupted.
As if that were the case.
“You threw up all of your medication.”
He looked at my hospital gown stained with blood and said that.
“…Medication?”
Was he talking about that?
So it really wasn’t real blood after all.
The doctor wore a scarf around his neck. While his body seemed intact, there was something awkward about the neck area. It looked slightly off to the side—
The moment the doctor took a step toward me, Yuka moved without hesitation.
Yuka’s sword glinted.
With a swish, she cut the man’s neck, but…
There was nothing in between.
The scarf was cut precisely in half.
“…I see.”
Yuka’s voice trembled as she stepped back.
“You’re a Yōkai without a nest.”
“A Yōkai?”
The doctor tilted his head.
……
I wasn’t the type to get scared easily when faced with corpses, but even so, this was incredibly… unpleasant to look at.
The head floating above the body moved, not swaying due to muscles or bones, but the entire head tilted roughly 45 degrees.
“What are you talking about? A Yōkai? There’s no such thing in this world.”
The man said, as if he had heard a joke.
And then he took a step toward us.
“……”
We took a step back.
Even Yuka seemed to hesitate for some reason.
Was there a reason to hesitate?
“……”
I closed my eyes. I briefly pondered.
Was it really right for me to get involved in a fight like this in this kind of body?
But then again.
If Yuka was hesitating, then that meant that deciding to strike was by no means an easy decision.
If that was the case, it would make sense for me to take the hit instead.
After all, I was the adult here.
I glanced slightly away.
Then, I spotted a piece of metal.
Close to the bed, there was a small table that happened to be just right to place things on, and on it sat a pen.
As I gauged the distance, the other side took another step closer.
There wasn’t enough time to waste.
I mustered all the remaining strength I had and lunged forward toward them. Yuka, Koko, and even the decapitated doctor all looked at me.
And they all moved toward me.
But none of them could reach me.
Yuka was gripping her sword tightly in both hands, and the doctor was just a little far from me.
Koko had changed her direction upon seeing the doctor lunge at me.
Thanks to that, I could quickly grab the pen.
“Kotone!”
Yuka called my name, momentarily causing me to flinch, but I quickly pressed the button on the pen to extract the ink. It was sharp enough to act as a dagger.
I felt a sharp pain. The reason it hurt more than usual was perhaps because I was more on edge now. Or was it because I had weakened? It could be simply that the state of the wound was different. It was by far the bluntest object I’d ever scratched my wrist with until now.
Blood flowed from my wrist, the palm facing upwards.
The cut opened wide, as if splitting in half, and blood flowed profusely.
An eye appeared in the center of the Pentagram, meeting my gaze.
“You were the one who awakened me?”
“So it shall be.”
Before the other party spoke, I took the initiative to speak, but it seemed Nirlas was willing to overlook my rudeness.
“…You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”
“Isn’t it strange to think I wouldn’t know such a thing?”
Nirlas answered cheerfully in a delighted tone.
“……”
There are many things I want to ask. There’s probably enough time to do so. Right now, that ‘time’ is suspended.
But that didn’t feel like the mood at all.
“What is that?”
Curiously, even as a Yōkai, it didn’t give off that unique sensation; it was frozen mid-leap.
Its body, seemingly in the air after charging at me, was almost lying down, and the face that was biting down was directed right toward me.
Naturally, the neck and body were not connected.
“What do you think that sensation you feel when seeing a Yōkai is?”
“……”
Whether I answered or not, Nirlas was kindly—overly kindly—explaining in an overly cheerful voice.
“I would think you feel a sensation of horror. There are similar instances, right?
When you see a bug. When a snake suddenly jumps out from the tall grass as you walk by. When you narrowly escape a traffic accident. When you accidentally stumble upon a corpse.
When you discover a fire scene.”
“……”
You can become desensitized if you see it often.
“Exactly. That’s right. You may become desensitized, but regardless, everyone has an instinctive aversion to certain parts.”
“So, is that not one of those?”
More than that, I was surprised that Nirlas was explaining such things to me.
Non-human beings generally don’t put in any effort to understand humans. Isn’t that the main theme in Cthulhu Mythos and cosmic horror?
Or was there such a being even within Nirlas? A terrifying presence that even Nirlas would fear.
“I guess I should give you a hint.”
Nirlas said.
“If you have a world to live in, what do you think lies in other worlds?”
“……”
“If it’s alive, there’s certainly something that must be feared, right?”
“……”
“Have you thought about where your soul might go at the inevitable end of all?”
…… Yōkai comes from places not inhabited by humans. And there are beings among humans capable of sensing such Yōkai.
“But surely it’s said that places where Yōkai come from aren’t terrestrial or heavenly—”
“Could it truly be so?”
Nirlas questioned.
“If they can come to this world, then I’m curious to know how it may indeed be impossible to reach the other world.”
“…… Then the reason why not everyone can sense them is—”
“If ghosts or spirits don’t exist, then why do you imagine such beings in terror?”
Nirlas laughed.
“One wonders the reason why you don’t feel such emotions regarding that.”
“……”
I had nothing left to say.