Final Mystery: Gochisousamadeshita
(TN: Thanks for the meal.)
Chapter 1: A Path of Flesh
“Ow……”
Feeling a headache, Houzuki woke up in the worst possible way.
Everything in front of her was shrouded in complete darkness.
She was the only one standing there, vaguely lit. There was no spotlight-like equipment, but for some reason the light was only shining on Houzuki.
Where am I?
The last parts of his memory were of her being dragged into the darkness.
“Oh, the plastic container!!”
Houzuki searched for the plastic container that was no longer in her hands.
Hurriedly, she slid her hand nearby, and her fingertips touched something hard and heavy like a box. She pulled it close and found it to be a plastic container, and Houzuki sighed in relief.
Yuiru had said he’d need it for his meal. That’s why she couldn’t let it go.
“Huh, Yuiru?”
That high school boy with such striking looks and such an arrogant attitude was not in Houzuki’s field of vision. In fact, there was no ghost to be seen at all.
Everything but her surroundings was completely dark, and Houzuki felt suddenly lonely, alone in the dark space. Up until now, she had been fine being alone.
That’s how much the presence of the boy Yuiru Enen had grown in Houzuki’s mind.
“…Where am I?”
If Houzuki didn’t meet up with Yuiru quickly, her life would be in danger. She didn’t want to die in a place like this yet.
Houzuki stood up, holding the plastic container, and tried to see if she could walk through it.
There was no sign of anything unusual happening the moment she started walking, and she seemed to be able to walk without any problems. However, what she felt through the soles of her leather shoes was not the feeling of the floor, but rather a disgusting sensation, as if she had stepped on something soft, like flesh.
Guni,1 nicha2.
Nichyu~, guni.
She stomped her foot a second and a third time, but the sound was the same. The sound of stepping on flesh reached Houzuki’s ears.
“What am I stepping…”
She gently looked down at her feet, and saw something red lying there.
“Hiih!”
The plastic container fell from Houzuki’s hands, and the sound of something heavy slamming against flesh echoed.
Thud.
Houzuki, who was sitting on her bottom, felt a lukewarm sensation in her palm.
The pulsating flesh seemed almost alive. The feeling of the flesh reminded her of the inside of a human body, and Houzuki was filled with an uncontrollable sense of disgust and fear.
Houzuki hastily picked up the plastic container she had let go of,
“What, no, what is this? I don’t know anything about this.”
Isn’t this the old school building?
Has Houzuki been eaten by the demon?
If so, is this inside the demon’s body?
“Yu, Yuiru, Yuiru, help me, help me…”
She called out the name of the silver-haired, red-eyed high school boy who was the only one who could help Houzuki, but he didn’t appear in front of her making jokes like, “Pathetic, Houzuki.”
However, it seemed there was someone else there besides Houzuki.
She heard footsteps from behind.
Nicha, guni.
Guni, guni.
She thought her heart would stop.
Houzuki had no way of fighting against a demon that had imitated Irune Yuen’s appearance. Houzuki’s only weapon was this plastic container.
No, in the first place, would a plastic container even be usable as a weapon? It might be a blunt weapon, but that’s all it was worth.
Appearing in front of Houzuki, who was holding the plastic container tightly,
“――――Irune Yuen.”
A high school boy with long black hair that reached his shoulders and obsidian eyes – Irune Yuen – passed right next to Houzuki.
His expression was dead.
I’m not sure if this is the right way to describe it, but all expression had disappeared from his face. He turned his dead fish-like eyes into the darkness, making creepy footsteps as he headed deeper inside.
“Hey.”
As Houzuki stood up, carrying the plastic container, Irune Yuen, who had passed by Houzuki, stopped dead in his tracks.
Over there.
She thought she heard a raspy voice from somewhere.
Deep inside.
Turning towards Houzuki, Irune Yuen pointed into the darkness.
“Do we just head over there?”
Irune Yuen nodded at Houzuki’s question.
She might be being deceived. Irune Yuen was the one who brought Houzuki here.
However, she had heard that it was a demon that nested in the old school building. Was his attitude here just an act, or was it his true feelings?
Houzuki picked up the plastic container again,
“Thank you.”
He said thank you and started walking in the direction Irune Yuen had indicated.
Trying to push the awful sound of stepping on flesh out of his mind as best he could, Houzuki headed deeper into the darkness.
It was pitch black and it was impossible to walk, but miraculously Houzuki was able to walk around in this abyss. All alone in this dark world with no handrails, no walking sticks, and no signposts.
Nicha, nicha.
Nicha, guni.
Walking and walking, Houzuki finally reached what seemed to be her destination.
It looked like a room.
There must have been something like a hole here originally. In the center of the room, which was the size of a classroom, there was what looked like the remains of a hole, with a pillar of flesh installed to cover it. The pillar of flesh seemed to have forcibly covered every corner of the hole, and an emaciated human was embedded in the pillar.
Both arms were embedded in the pillar of flesh, and his exposed chest and drooping head looked familiar. She could barely see the uniform of a male student at XX High School, and black hair that reached his shoulders.
“Irune Yuen…”
There was the scrawny and emaciated Irune Yuen – the real body of Yuiru Enen.
TN: 1: forceful movement (such as, press or push) [gu] + soft, squishy, repulsive sensation, 2: slimy
