Chapter 3: Welcome Home
On the way home when no one else is there, Houzuki is dragged by the arm by the faceless monster.
She can’t cry out for help.
She knows that no one will come even if she calls.
Resisting just to escape is too much trouble. It would be better to let the monster devour and end life this way.
(No one will mourn)
At the disappearance of a girl named Houzuki in the ghostly valley, no one will mourn.
Whether alive or dead, it doesn’t matter to this world.
Even if one were to declare their death, the response would be, “Huh, there was someone like that?” Houzuki is merely that kind of person after all.
As she gaze absent-mindedly at the poisonous hues of the evening sky, the faceless monster leading her hand come to a halt.
“Ho, me”
“Ho, me”
“Ho, me”
“Ho, me”
The monster, worn down until its facial features are gone, desperately moves its nonexistent mouth, repeating, “Home,” “Home.”
Sure enough, there stood Houzuki’s home.
It was a dilapidated apartment that looked like it would be blown away if a typhoon hit. A tricycle, seemingly abandoned by some household, added to the eerie atmosphere, while potted plants lay toppled, soil spilling out. The more one looked, the more unsettling the apartment appeared.
Yet, was this place really as unpleasant as it seemed?
Despite no sign of anyone living there, there was a sensation of being watched.
Though there should be no one, there was a feeling of someone being in the room.
An inexpressible fear welled up within Houzuki, and she felt the urgent need to flee from this place immediately.
“Ho,me”
“Ho,me”
“Home”
“Home”
The monster repeats the same words over and over as if singing a song.
Dragging Houzuki’s arm, it violently opens the door to her home.
The poorly fitting door creaks on its hinges as it swings open, revealing a pitch-dark room in front of Hoozuki.
Gii, gii.
Something is swaying right in front of her.
Gii, gishii.
It’s human legs.
Gii, gii…
Tied from a beam, swinging by a rope around its neck, is an unidentified man.
“――――!!”
Witnessing the sight of a stranger dead in her own home, Houzuki let out a voiceless scream.
The yellowed eyeballs of the man, dead from hanging, stared intently at the trembling Houzuki.
His half-opened lips carried an eerie vibe, as if they might start moving at any moment, while his dry red tongue gave an unsettling impression. Was he still a human, or had he become a lingering spirit, continuing to hang himself even after death?
But it wasn’t just the hanging man who lingered in Houzuki’s house.
Thud, thud, thud.
A blank-faced woman rhythmically chopped something placed on a cutting board with a knife. Her eyes were vacant, gazing aimlessly upwards, as she relentlessly chopped away at something.
The cutting board was stained red.
It seemed she was cutting something meat-like, as small bits of flesh rolled on the board.
“――ugh, *gag*”
She involuntarily vomited the contents of her stomach.
The true identity of the meat rolling on the cutting board was revealed to be the woman’s own arm.
She placed her own arm on the cutting board and, with the knife gripped in her dominant hand, began to chop her arm. She severed bone, pounded her arm repeatedly with the knife, and even as fresh blood gushed out, she did not stop.
Squish, squish.
Squish, squish.
As if questioning her inability to cut through, the woman pressed the knife against her own arm. Blood gushed and seeped, emitting a foul, nauseating smell.
“Family”
“Fa, miily”
“Family”
“Family”
“Family”
“Family”
“Fami,ly
The faceless monster shakes its head and tries to pull Houzuki into his home.
“No……NO!!”
Houzuki shouted while resisting with all her might.
“You people are not my family! We’re nothing!!”
They’re simply staying by Houzuki’s side without knowing their purpose.
“You’re just ghosts!! Monsters!! ――The crazy kind!!!!”
With all her might, resisting desperately, Houzuki finally managed to retrieve her arm from the faceless monster.
Collapsed to the ground from the release, she quickly rose and dashed away from the eerie world.
“If I stay here, it’s all over. I have to escape as soon as possible —— at least until ×× High School!!”
As Houzuki dashed away, leaving everything behind, the faceless monsters all chimed in with the same words from behind her.
“Welcome home”
“Welcome home”
What exactly triggered that response?
From Houzuki’s home, swallowed by the pitch-black darkness, another black arm extends.
It seems determined to drag Houzuki into her home by force. It’s a persistent ghost.
What could be the reason behind such a strong desire to drag Houzuki into the house?
“Someone…”
As Houzuki tries to run away, a figure flashes through her mind.
Silver hair and crimson eyes that seem to blend with the evening sky.
Wearing the black high school uniform of ×× High School, with a distinctive way of speaking, a ghost who eats other ghosts.
His name is,
“YUIRU!!”
“――――You finally called me. Aren’t you a bit slow?”
Upon calling that name, a hand reaches out as if to grasp Houzuki’s hand.
With silver hair reflecting the poisonous hues of the sky and vibrant crimson eyes, along with well-defined features that would captivate any opposite sex, the male student wearing a pristine black high school uniform shields Houzuki on his back, wielding a silver knife in a reverse grip.
The black arm extending from Houzuki’s home is abruptly severed and falls to the ground with a thud. Like the tail of a freshly cut lizard, it wriggles on the ground, but under the foot of the male student, it quiets down.
“It was my policy not to eat food that fell on the ground but unfortunately, I’m already dead. My stomach is pretty sturdy.”
The silver-haired, red-eyed male student grabs the wriggling black hand and begins nibbling on it with slender fingertips.
Crunch, crackle.
Gnaw, grind.
—Gulp.
“Go chi sou sa ma de shita”
“Wiping his mouth roughly, Yuiru Enen, the silver-haired, red-eyed male student, turns to look at the slumping Houzuki.
“If you were in such a dire situation, you should have asked for help sooner. Honestly, you’re quite bad at facing your end,” he remarks.
“…I regret asking you for help now,” Houzuki sighs deeply.
Only he can save Houzuki, but she didn’t want to ask him for help.
Surely he would bring up some talk about ‘returning the favor.’ Houzuki’s life would be saved, and Yuiru would get his desired delicious meal. Would it really be forgiven just like that?
Yuiru says, ‘Oh well,’ and
“Now then, is that my next meal? It kind of has―― a delicious smell.”
In his line of sight, there are the faceless monster, the hanging man occupying Houzuki’s home, and the woman cutting herself with a knife. They too are surely ghosts and would fit snugly in Yuiru’s stomach.
Yuiru smiles gracefully at the faceless monster, wary of him, and clasps his hands together.
It’s a necessary greeting for a meal.
“I ta da ki ma su”
