The Call Girl (4)
I yawned. “Good work, Kaguya-chan.”
꒰◍ᐡᐤᐡ◍꒱
After spinning her silk, Kaguya had fallen fast asleep.
Zzz… She looked like an absolute angel while sleeping.
Even humans get tired after exerting themselves, so how exhausted must a little caterpillar be? I gently placed the peacefully sleeping larva back into her bamboo tube.
I roughly straightened the bent blade and sheathed it. Click—then I immediately drew it again. The sword had returned to perfect condition.
“Mary. You tried to kill me, didn’t you?”
I pointed the tip of my sword at the shabby French doll sprawled on the floor.
She couldn’t resist.
Not while she was tightly bound by Kaguya’s silk threads.
‘She can’t even move without her smartphone.’
Everyone, this is why electromagnetic waves from smartphones are so dangerous.
They make dolls move on their own, you know?
[I am Mary. Why did you abandon me…?]
A pitiful voice flowed from Mary’s smartphone.
“I didn’t abandon you. You lost, so you must’ve been prepared for the consequences, right?”
One wrong move and I would’ve been clobbered by a poker. You have to pay the price for that, Mary.
I swung my toy sword with a sharp whoosh.
What the blade cut wasn’t Mary herself, but the silk threads binding her.
[I am Mary!?!?]
Mary spoke in utter confusion. She must have thought it was all over.
Well, if she’d been a male doll, I would’ve burned her at the stake. But Mary still had a path to atonement left.
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”
She was filthy, covered in grime.
Bits of stuffing were poking out everywhere.
That wasn’t proper “treatment” for a doll. Even I was getting angry on her behalf.
[I am Mary……. Why did you abandon me…….]
Mary whispered, completely dejected.
“I’m Natsunashi Yuuki! I would never abandon you!”
I held my hand out to her.
“I’ll take proper care of you from now on. Want to live here with me, Mary?”
Aaah. From figures to ball-jointed dolls, chibi plushies, and fursuits—I’ve mastered every subcategory of doll culture. Normalizing Mary was child’s play for someone like me.
[I am Mary!!!]
A sob burst loudly from the smartphone.
“That’s right. You are Mary!!!”
[I was actually so lonely!!!]
I see. I smiled faintly as I:
1. Lifted Mary up.
2. Immediately stripped off her dirty clothes. She reverted to her default avatar state.
“Why are you wearing French clothes when you’re in Japan? Take them off.”
There would be no more French doll Mary.
Since she’d decided to become part of this household, she needed to blend into the Japanese countryside, right?
[I am Mary! I am Mary! I am Mary—@#$%]
The smartphone kept repeating “I am Mary!” like it was stuck buffering.
Huh? It was getting really loud.
I flipped Mary over and examined her thoroughly from every angle.
“There’s nothing embarrassing to see anyway. Don’t overreact. I’ll hand-wash you first. You smell like a dishrag.”
I muted the smartphone’s volume. Finally, it was quiet.
Then I stripped off my own clothes and dragged Mary into the bathroom…
Several hours later.
‘Whoa, perfect! She’s the very model of a Japanese doll!’
I’d modified her myself, but I couldn’t help but admire the result.
Grandma’s house still had plenty of materials useful for doll customization.
‘Looks like my mom really loved painting.’
There were tons of art supplies—paints, brushes, crayons, the works.
Yume must have been quite the artistic girl. Yep, yep.
They were old, but still usable.
It was a shame I couldn’t find any actual paintings my mother had made, though.
Anyway, after washing the filthy Mary until she was fluffy and clean,
I dyed her messy blonde hair jet black with paint and trimmed it into a sleek hime cut.
I painted her face pure white and even added red eyeliner!
New clothes were obviously essential too.
I found some adorable Shiba Inu patterned pajamas and immediately cut them up.
Using the needle Suzuki-san had dropped and Kaguya’s silk thread, I stitched them together stitch by stitch into a mini kimono.
The French doll Mary had been reborn as the Japanese doll Mary!
Even though she had a brand-new look, Mary still looked sulky.
Even if you don’t like it, what can you do about it? I confiscated your smartphone, remember?
“Heh. Mary, you really lucked out when you met me.”
Click. Click. After taking a bunch of concept shots with Mary, I suddenly realized something.
Silent Story ~The Never-Ending Summer Vacation~ was a romantic comedy dating sim.
The heroine in the white dress you meet at the bus stop.
The beautiful lady next door, the sailor-uniformed high school girl carrying a Japanese sword, and the twin maids who serve the sickly young lady—there was no doubt about it.
But a toy sword that cuts people in half on contact?
A Jizo statue that stands in bizarre poses?
How was I supposed to explain a call girl doll?
Could this game possibly be… maybe…?
2016.
A photograph of a tokonoma* taken by Natsunashi Yuuki.
*A decorative alcove in traditional Japanese homes, typically used to display hanging scrolls or Japanese swords.
It was decorated with the sword from Mansho Ichishima, the Mary doll, and a hanging scroll written in black crayon that read “Perfect Clear (of what?).”
Our lodgings were an old church. Me, Aris, and Fujimoto Yutaro each got our own room.
‘This must be where hidden Kirishitan* missionaries stayed while fleeing persecution from the Edo shogunate*.’
It was a two-story brick building.
Although it was called an abandoned church, the interior had been comfortably renovated. It even had running water and electricity.
The village chief’s family, the “Hozure,” had provided it.
A family name that combined “phoenix” with “collapse”—even though it contained the sacred beast phoenix, it was still an ominous surname.
“It’s gotten quite late today. Please do not go outside as per the village rules. We can speak more tomorrow.”
The village chief’s son, Ichimatsu, who had acted as our guide, led us all the way to the church.
It was just barely before the 11 p.m. curfew.
When we entered the reception room, Yutaro was grumbling while looking at the bags of snacks.
“All they’ve got are old lady snacks. Not that I’m complaining since we’re freeloading, but still.”
They were Japanese sweets like seaweed senbei, kelp jelly, and monaka.
“Sorry they match the old lady’s taste,” I said, picking up a senbei and crunching into it. “Hey, Koyoming. Why the long face? Want a drink? It smells really fragrant. What’s in it?”
She was already pouring herself some local brew and taking sips. I glared at Yutaro and sat across from her.
“I told you to call me Mikanagi. I don’t drink.”
Alcohol was a spiritually dual-natured substance.
Like salt, it could purify evil energy, but it could also invite it.
Because of her constitution, she tried to avoid it as much as possible.
“What? Drinking’s supposed to be more fun together. Even that guy over there…”
“Aris has the palate of a child. He can’t drink.”
I’d been a bit shocked when he ordered an okosama lunch* at a department store during a business trip despite his age.
“And stop acting so familiar. We’re here for work. We each have our own jobs.”
“Occult journalist Koyoming~! Let’s work together, yeah? Don’t you like hot springs, Koyoming? Think there’ll be mixed bathing?”
Whoosh. My leg barely grazed him, and Yutaro flinched hard.
“Whoa!?!? That sobered me right up.”
“If you say anything gross again, I’ll kill you. I trained in Kyokushin Karate*, you know.”
“Whoa, whoa. Got it.”
Just then, Aris came down, still half-asleep and shuffling.
Both Yutaro and I stopped our bickering the moment we saw him.
“What the hell are you wearing?”
“Koyoming-senpai. Isn’t it cute? What do you think?”
Pajamas covered in Shiba Inu patterns. Are you an elementary schooler?
The worst part was that he’d bought a second pair.
“Ta-da! I got one for you too, Koyoming-senpai. It’ll look perfect on you! Hehe.”
“Get lost.”
“N-no way… Buntaro-san, do you want to wear it?”
“Are you stupid? You think Koyoming’s size would fit me?”
“Uuu…” Aris sat down in his chair looking utterly dejected. Maybe telling him to get lost had been too harsh?
“The senbei, monaka, and jelly are all delicious!”
After munching on the Japanese sweets, his mood instantly recovered.
His emotional processing was ridiculously simple. The excited Aris began making hammering motions—thump, thump, thump.
“Then let us begin the first Utsuromura Strategy Meeting. This village is definitely weird.”
If this was the first meeting, did that mean he planned to hold a second and third?
“Earlier, didn’t you see Ichimatsu Hozure’s mask move on its own? It’s definitely a cursed mask.”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t surprised.
But I answered firmly.
“Aris. That mask uses a karakuri mechanism*. Did you hear the sound like a music box turning? That’s the sound of whalebone springs inside. It’s a very traditional method.”
Traditional automatons used whalebone instead of metal springs.
I was impressed they managed to get whalebone in such a remote mountain village.
“T-then what about the Utsuromura rules? Isn’t it suspicious? Why can’t we go outside at night?”
“Because the countryside is dark? If a bear shows up, people get torn apart.”
This time Yutaro answered.
He was right. The photo the editor-in-chief had given us showed a Japanese black bear.
Though it was in the middle of being eaten by a rabbit.
A human would’ve been torn to pieces.
“Why can’t we approach the old shrine?”
“There’s a new shrine too, right? Ruins might look fine on the outside, but they’re extremely dangerous. I know that from working in construction.”
“Why can’t we enter the fog?”
“People die every year from suffocating on volcanic gas.”
“The bells! If you hear the sound of bells, you have to prostrate yourself immediately? I don’t think you can explain that one.”
“*Isn’t that to honor the air raids during the Pacific War? Some old folks still drop to the ground and cover their heads the moment they hear a siren. Maybe here they use bells instead of sirens.”
When Yutaro unexpectedly cut through the logic, Aris began trembling.
“*Uwaaaah* Even though I graduated from Tokyo University, I’ve been completely outdone by Buntaro-san! Koyoming-senpai! I’m just a fake smart person!”
“Sorry that I’m just a high school graduate delinquent!”
Aris immediately started whining. It was honestly a bit pathetic.
“Not my problem, Aris.”
Of course this village was steeped in old customs.
But it felt even more “normal” than the ominous premonition I’d felt before arriving, which only made it more unsettling.
The village was surprisingly well-maintained.
There seemed to be quite a few young people like Ichimatsu too.
Even on the way here by rickshaw,
the fields looked bountiful, and I saw various crops that suggested they weren’t solely focused on rice farming.
Despite being far more remote than my hometown, Utsuromura seemed surprisingly prosperous.
Maybe the photos the editor-in-chief gave us really were just some malicious prank from fifty years ago.
“Oh, and about that part where Yume is said to be the bride of a god? What does ‘to be joined’ even mean?”
Aris tilted his head in confusion.
I shot up from my seat.
“I’m tired. I’m heading to my room. You two should get some sleep too.”
“Koyoming-senpai!”
Ignoring Aris’s voice, I climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Phew. Once I entered my room, I began unbuttoning my shirt.
“Tsu. Ki. Ku. Mu. Shi. Yu. Me.”
As I loosened the wire constricting my chest, I pronounced each syllable clearly.
So the girl who was playing with butterflies at the bus stop was named Yume?
‘If the village is that wary of her, then Yume and outsiders must be strictly separated—!?!?’
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
A girl was pressed flat against my second-floor window, staring right at me.
It was Tsukikumushi Yume. Did she come because I called her?
More importantly, this was the second floor?
I froze stiff. At that moment, Yume’s mouth outside the window opened into a perfect “あ” shape, and then she vanished in an instant.
Did she fall backward? From this height?
“Tsukikumushi Yume!!!”
I screamed.
At the same time, a nosebleed burst from my nostrils.
— End of Entry —
1) The shogunate established by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ended the Warring States period (1603–1867). It severely persecuted Catholics.
2) Catholic believers. Many fled to rural areas or islands to escape Edo shogunate persecution, and some adapted their practices accordingly.
3) Japanese sweets inspired by Western confectionery techniques.
4) Children’s set menus sold at department stores and the like. Usually includes hamburger steak or chicken rice.
5) A more combat-oriented style of karate. Founded by the Zainichi Korean Choi Young-eui.
6) Automata created in the 18th–19th centuries by analyzing Western clockwork mechanisms. Primarily took the form of dolls.
7) Allied air raids during the Pacific War. Full-scale bombing with B-29s began in 1944.