Sailor Fuku (4)
Screeech—thud!
Something slammed into the bus heading to Utsuromura Village. When we got off, we found a beast crushed under the wheels.
"A dog with a human face? For real?"
Yutaro muttered in disbelief.
"Ah, aaah."
The bus driver's face had turned ashen.
"Ko, Koyoming-senpai? It's a human-faced dog! A human-faced dog! The classic urban legend staple! It never shows up when we're investigating! Insane."
My junior Arisu was the only one thrilled. She was snapping away at the fallen human-faced dog with a special film camera she'd supposedly scored through a secret route to capture ghostly apparitions (probably got scammed, though).
Human-faced dog (jinmenken). A dog with a middle-aged man's face. A staple of urban legends. The typical pattern is locking eyes with one on the highway. Not particularly harmful, so to me—who's been tangled with vicious yokai since childhood thanks to my constitution—it's nothing special.
But it stinks. A thick, nose-numbing wrongness.
"Everyone, quiet."
I silenced the commotion. The human-faced dog's lips were twitching.
I approached it.
"Ta, ta, ta, su, su, ku, e, te."
The bloodied human-faced dog—pronunciation sloppy, but unmistakably tasukete. "Help me."—before it died.
I sighed, closed its eyelids, and told the frozen driver.
"Let's get going, sir. Just a deformed dog. Sucks it got run over, but we don't owe it a burial. It's getting dark."
Utsuromura is a sunken basin. The sun sets fast in the mountains. Even in midsummer, dusk was already creeping in.
"What? Just a freak mutt?"
Yutaro relaxed at "deformed dog."
"No way it's a deformed dog! Koyoming-senpai, let's take the body! Dissect it and uncover the human-faced dog's secret!"
Arisu whined, but I said firmly.
"Leave it there."
"Ehhh~."
"Listen to Koyomi for once, you."
Even Yutaro scolded her, so Arisu gave up on the human-faced dog. Her lips were still pouting, though.
"O-okay. Everyone, get back on!"
We set off again, but the bus stayed dead silent for nearly two hours. The chatty Osaka driver had clamped his mouth shut. Yutaro, bored, read his manga. Then a drizzle started, making the gloomy mood worse.
I stared blankly out the window, chin in hand, when Arisu plopped down beside me.
"Koyoming-senpai, what's up?"
"With what? And it's Mikanangi, how many times do I have to say it."
"It was cool and all, but a human-faced dog isn't that big a deal, right? You just look... troubled."
Arisu is airheaded, but sharp as expected from Dongkyung University. Human-faced dogs are usually comical. Rumor has it a comedian made it up in the '80s. Stuff like scavenging convenience store meat buns or hitting on drunk women. Seen as a cheeky, harmless yokai.
Yokai often follow perceptions.
"Lemme guess? You think something scarier was involved?"
Arisu pulled a thick book from her bag. Her second treasure after the camera: an illustrated yokai encyclopedia. She flipped through and stopped on a page with a headless Jizo statue.
"See? This is 'Beheaded Jizo' from Tohoku legends."
Beheaded Jizo rips off people's or animals' heads to replace its own. Arisu wondered if the human-faced dog was related.
I shook my head.
"Wrong, Arisu. That wasn't a yokai."
Thanks to my constitution, I vaguely sense yokai, spirits, or other apparitions. Nothing from that dog.
That's the problem.
"Koyoming-senpai, if not a yokai, what? Not some boring mutant dog, right? Hehe."
Arisu's face stiffened briefly before she laughed it off.
"Maybe man-made? Sewn a human head onto a dog body."
I lowered my voice.
"No way! I'm in the science department. Mixing bodies and heads from different animals? It couldn't live!"
Arisu got worked up, but I replied coldly.
"You don't know, Arisu. You're science. I'm just a nutjob who thinks he senses the occult because of weak nasal mucosa. It's way more rational to say I'm babbling nonsense about a poor roadkill freak. Right?"
"Oof, senpai."
"Don't trust me too much. Trust only yourself, Arisu. That's what I do."
I snapped coldly, and she went back to her seat.
Was that too harsh?
Seeing her deflated tugged at me. I looked outside again.
Beyond the endlessly streaming raindrops on the window,
a glaringly yellow butterfly fluttered.
A butterfly...?
Flying gracefully even in the rain. No way it could outpace the bus, but it wouldn't get caught.
Soon, a bus stop appeared in the visible distance. The glowing butterfly fluttered toward it.
Under the moonlight, a girl sheltered under the stop's eaves from the rain. Ivory hair, vividly colored eyes. A girl so breathtakingly beautiful it stole my breath.
I couldn't look away. Her pure white dress soaked through, but it added mystery rather than pathos.
Spotting the butterfly, she indifferently extended her hand. It landed on her hand like finding a flower.
Would it be okay if time stopped right here?
That thought crossed my mind.
That was my—Tsukikumu Yume no, wait, my first encounter with her...
—Mikanangi Koyomi's Utsuromura Investigation Log ④
"The Hoozure too! The Kiryuen too! Even Akatora! Why didn't any of you tell me a word! Ah, family business! Brushing it off as family business, huh. Ugh. Now I gotta write another apology report..."
Suzuki was practically tearing his hair out. I asked the despairing Suzuki.
"Suzuki-san, was my mom pretty?"
This was serious.
Snap. He pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.
"Pretty? Yeah, well. Denying it would be a lie. At least, the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
No way! Why'd you die, Yume! I despaired like Suzuki.
I could've been super filial! For the record, I think a bishoujo mom is within my OK defense range.
"Hated to use it, but no choice."
Suzuki pulled a star candy from a small box labeled 450. He snapped his fingers, and it popped into my mouth.
The star candy dived down my throat before I could taste the sweetness.
What? Some next-gen sugar supplement service?
Then Suzuki solemnly swallowed one himself.
"Spit it out! Natsunashi Yuuki!"
(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ Tsurugi grabbed my collar and shook me desperately. Really? It's not weird-tasting like meropan.
"Why?"
"Aah, seriously! It's gotta be one of Suzuki's tricks."
"Mitsurugi-san, even you—a Kiryuen lackey—should wanna hear this. Sorry, Yuuki-kun. Never wanna make another case like Yume or Koyomi. Heard of 'swallow a thousand needles if you lie'? Speak only truth."
Harisenbon. Swallow a thousand needles if you lie. Like Korea's "horns grow on your butt if you lie" proverb.
"Why'd you come to Utsuromura, Yuuki-kun?"
"Don't answer, Natsunashi Yuuki."
Come on, asking that like it's life-or-death? Even rural officials aren't that nosy.
"Came for summer break to have fun. Snap photos, enjoy rural Japan. Get friendly with villagers like you, Suzuki-san. Utsuromura seems like a great village."
Pfft. Suzuki scoffed mockingly.
"Too bad. Your stomach's gonna sting with a thousand needles."
"Natsunashi Yuuki!"
But nothing happened. Suzuki looked awkward.
"Huh? Huh? Not here to investigate Yume-something or dig up the village's secrets...?"
"Thrilled you get my sincerity, Suzuki-san. We're friends now, right? What's your name?"
"My name? Suzuki... Ahh!"
Suzuki paled mid-reply.
"Guh! No! The signal already!"
He clutched his stomach and bolted out the village office door.
"Needles! Perfect timing."
Outside, no Suzuki, but needles scattered everywhere for some reason. Jackpot! Got DIY fishing rod materials. Bamboo at home too—gonna make one later.
"Natsunashi Yuuki. Your bad luck is top-tier."
(lll⩌⥐⩌) Tsurugi said with a fed-up face.
Fishing Rod DIY Material
Lucky find! Current meta for possession stories.
"Mitsurugi-chan, made friends with Noden III and Suzuki-san too—hit 3 out of 5 for today's friend-making goal."
"I'm not your friend! Just a Kiryuen emissary."
"You sure worry a lot for someone saying that."
"Better than outsiders like Suzuki or the colonel!"
*Mumble mumble* Tsurugi's words faded as I tuned out. Double chance spawning nearby.