Mitsuko Souma was more frightening to Megumi than any of the ill-reputed boys, Kazuo Kiriyama and Shogo Kawada. It might have been because, like Megumi, Mitsuko Souma was a girl, and also, yes of course, because Megumi herself had been harassed by Hirono Shimizu, who was in Mitsuko’s gang, when they first became classmates in second-year. If they were in the same hall, Hirono would trip her or slash her skirt with a razor. Lately, maybe because she’d simply lost interest in Megumi, Hirono had stopped harassing her. (She was still disappointed though when she learned that her third-year class was to be the same as her second-year class.) Mitsuko herself didn’t pick on Megumi, but Mitsuko was someone even Hirono couldn’t defy.
Mitsuko Souma would relish killing someone like her.
Megumi’s body began trembling again. Oh, please no, don’t shake. If she hears me… Megumi wrapped her body tightly with her arms to keep her arms from shaking.
From beneath the table Megumi could see Mitsuko’s hand holding a flashlight and the belt of her skirt glowing behind it. She heard the sound of Mitsuko rifling through the drawers of the sink.
Please hurry… hurry up and get out of here. If you could at least just get out of this room… then I could go to the bathroom. I could lock it from inside and escape through the window. Please hurry…
BRRRRIING. The electronic signal rang, and Megumi felt her heart leap out of her mouth.
Mitsuko Souma also seemed to quiver, slightly. The beam from her flashlight suddenly disappeared along with the belt. She seemed to be approaching the corner of the room.
Megumi realized the sound was coming from her pocket. She frantically pulled out the cellular. Her mind went blank and she automatically flipped it open and randomly pressed the buttons.
A voice leaked out, “Hey, it’s Sakamochi again. I just wanted to remind you, Megumi, to turn off your cell phone. Otherwise, if I call you like this, everyone will know where you are, right? So…”
Megumi’s fingers found the “End” button, cutting off Sakamochi’s voice.
The suffocating silence continued for a while. Then she heard Mitsuko’s voice, “Megumi?” She asked, “Megumi? Is that you?”
Mitsuko seemed to be in the corner of the dark kitchen. Megumi carefully placed her cell phone on the floor. The only thing in her hands now was her knife. Her hands were shaking even more, and the knife felt like a fish wiggling loose, but she gripped it as tight as she could.
Mitsuko was taller than Megumi, but she couldn’t have been much stronger. Mitsuko’s weapon—could it possibly be a gun?—no, then Mitsuko would have aimed it over here and fired. If Mitsuko didn’t have a gun—then Megumi might have a chance.
Yes, she had to kill. If she didn’t kill, Mitsuko would surely kill her.
She had to kill.
There was a clicking sound, and once again the flashlight beam appeared. It lit up the bottom of the table, and Megumi squinted for an instant. Now was the time—all she had to do was get up, run toward the source of the light with her knife out.
But Megumi’s intentions were about to be abruptly undermined by an unexpected turn of events.
The flashlight beam fell on a lower spot, and Mitsuko Souma sank down on the floor into the light, staring at Megumi. Tears were streaming down Mitsuko’s cheeks.
“I’m so glad…” her trembling lips finally parted, and she managed to say in a feeble voice, “I’m… I’m… I’m so scared….” Mitsuko’s voice was half shrieking. She thrust both of her hands forward as if seeking Megumi’s protection. Her hands were empty.
Then she continued, “I can trust you, right? I can trust you. You wouldn’t think of killing me, would you? You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”
Megumi was stunned. This was Mitsuko Souma crying. She’s asking for my help. Oh… as the shaking in her body subsided, Megumi felt an indescribable emotion well up inside her.
So that’s how it was. It didn’t matter how bad her reputation was, Mitsuko Souma was just another third-year junior high school student like her. Even Mitsuko Souma couldn’t take part in something as horrible as killing other classmates. She was just lonely and scared out of her wits.
And… oh, how terrible, I’d actually considered it. I thought of killing her.
I’m so… I’m so horrible.
Megumi burst into tears, overwhelmed by self-loathing along with the security that she now felt she was no longer alone, she was with someone.
The knife slipped through Megumi’s hands. She crawled on the floor, emerged from under the table, and held Mitsuko’s offered hands. As if a dam inside her were bursting, she blurted out, “Mitsuko! Mitsuko!”
She knew she was shaking this time from a different kind of emotion. It didn’t matter.
“It’s all right. I’ll stay with you. We’ll stay together.”
“Uh-huh.” Mitsuko scrunched up her tear-stained face and squeezed Megumi’s hands in return, nodding and repeating, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
Megumi held Mitsuko like this on the kitchen floor. She felt the warmth of Mitsuko’s body and she felt all the more guilty as her arms felt Mitsuko’s body trembling helplessly.
I-I was really thinking of doing something horrible… so horrible… I was actually trying to kill this girl…
“Hey…” Megumi began to blurt out, “I-I…”
“Hm?” Mitsuko lifted her teary eyes up to Megumi.
Megumi pursed her lips tightly to stifle a shriek and shook her head. “I-I’m so ashamed of myself. For a moment, I was trying to kill you. I thought of killing you. Because I was… I was so scared.”
Mitsuko’s eyes widened when she heard this—but she didn’t get upset. All she did was slightly nod her face which had been scrunched up from crying hysterically. Then she offered a warm smile. “That’s okay. Really. Don’t get too upset. It’s only to be expected. In this awful situation. Really, don’t get upset. Okay? Just stay with me, please?”
After Mitsuko said this, she gently held Megumi’s face with her left hand and pressed her left cheek against Megumi’s cheek. Megumi could feel Mitsuko’s tears.
Oh, Megumi thought, I was so wrong about her. It turned out Mitsuko Souma was an incredibly kind girl. She managed to forgive someone who tried to kill her with such a kind response, “It’s okay.” Didn’t our teacher, Mr. Hayashida, who’s already been killed, warn us how wrong it is to judge people just by their reputations?
With these thoughts, Megumi felt something well up inside her again. She held Mitsuko’s body even more tightly. That was all she could do for now. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I am such a horrible person, I am really—
The slashing sound Megumi heard sounded like a lemon being cut. It was a nice sound. The knife must have been really sharp and the lemon fresh, the way they are on television cooking shows, as in, “Today, we’ll be cooking lemon salmon.”
It took her a few seconds to realize what had occurred.
Megumi saw Mitsuko’s right hand. On the left side under her chin. Her hand held a gently curved, banana-shaped blade that reflected dully against the flashlight beam. It was a sickle—the kind used to harvest rice. And now its tip was stuck in Megumi’s throat.
Her left hand clutching the back of Megumi’s head, Mitsuko dug the sickle in further. It made another crunching noise.