Romantic Troubles of Duanmu-kun

“Thud!”

Accompanied by a dull sound and billowing smoke, a body fell from above, repeatedly colliding with the stair railings and steps. In the instant the Novelist’s gaze met those bloodshot eyes, the head was twisted at an impossible angle against the neck, and quickly fell silent.

In the dim field of vision, that figure had already fallen into the darker levels below, vanishing from sight.

Having anticipated encountering such scenes, the Novelist had been cautiously moving upward along the emergency exit, staying close to the wall. Even so, this unfortunate person’s sudden fall had startled him.

The Novelist hadn’t been intentionally looking for these people—unlike those Miyagi-san had called, he wasn’t interested in the criminals’ affairs. But following possible routes and Kaori-san’s traces while heading to the upper floors, he’d discovered quite a few people who had become “crooked.”

Some were stuffed headfirst into garbage bins;

Some hung swaying from fluorescent lights, strangled by their own suit ties;

Some bodies lay heavily atop broken-down elevator cars, dangling from the cables;

Some were forced to stand alongside mannequins in stores, rooted in place by spring-loaded chairs pinning them inside glass display cases, unable to move.

…

Most of them were in an unknown state between life and death. The Novelist wasn’t kind enough to check each one’s condition, unhesitatingly choosing to take detours around them.

Meanwhile, owl-like shrieks echoed through the building, sharp and piercing, lingering endlessly. The once-bustling shopping mall interior had grown sparse of people. Along the way, the Novelist had broken several floors’ worth of fire alarms. The warning sirens had been wailing for over ten minutes.

At first, it seemed some people had tried to catch him. But soon, the mall’s security personnel, noticing something wrong through the surveillance cameras, finally realized dangerous elements had infiltrated and began emergency evacuation of customers.

The reason for going through all this trouble had been hoping Kaori-san might escape by blending into the crowd, but it seemed that wouldn’t be so simple.

Was she caught up fighting someone, unable to break free?

Or perhaps she didn’t even have the strength left to run?

“It’s almost the appointed time… if we miss that chance, the possibility of escaping with an injured person becomes very slim.”

Plus, he’d face cold shoulders. Might even get the door slammed in his face tonight.

He glanced at the time displayed on the electronic screen, letting out a small sigh as he continued searching for the lady’s figure. Looked like she’d gone to even higher floors.

As the saying goes, “fools and smoke rise to the top”… could it be true?

As he stepped onto the final stair, the overwhelming stench of blood and gore that rushed into his nostrils made the Novelist hesitate for a moment.

The crimson before his eyes spread like a flood. Blood spatter covered every corner in sight. Blood plasma slowly crept toward his shoe soles.

In the midst of this hell-like scene, a woman in a blonde wig and Western dress sat alone quietly in the center of the sea of flesh and blood. Upon seeing the Novelist step into this scarlet world, her face showed an ethereal, gentle smile.

“Liang-chan…”

…

After carefully approaching and confirming no one else was around, he noticed that Fujishima Kaori’s right hand was covering a massive wound in her abdomen.

Fresh blood welled up in steady streams. Living organs clearly writhed in the gaping hole. Without the external pressure, Kaori-san’s viscera and intestines might spill out at any moment due to the difference in pressure between inside and outside her body.

“Ehehe… sorry for letting you see me in such an unseemly state…”

She smiled weakly, not asking why the Novelist was there. Her gentle demeanor hadn’t changed from when he’d seen her last night.

“May I ask you something?”

Kaori-san’s voice was barely audible. The Novelist crouched beside her.

“‘I’m sorry’… please tell Misao I’m sorry that I was never able to be a proper mother by her side all this time.”

“…”

Because her hands were more accustomed to weapons, more skilled at taking lives than normal household items, she had to rely on her daughter even for simple things like cleaning and organizing rooms.

Because of an accident on the battlefield, she’d lost her normal sense of taste, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make delicious meals.

Because of her former identity, even though she tried desperately to escape it, tried to live a peaceful daily life, danger and chaos would inevitably find her.

Just like in the past.

It would ultimately take everything away, take away what she cherished.

About these things, about memories of the past, about the present and future, about Misao, about human emotions, about flowing time…

Kaori-san rambled on about many things.

“If you could take good care of Misao…”

Finally, their conversation seemed to reach its end. Her face grew increasingly pale, color draining from her cheeks as if life’s vitality was slowly ebbing from her body.

The Novelist thought for a moment.

“I think you should save these touching lines to tell Fujishima-san yourself later.”

He answered with a serious attitude.

“…Will I be able to see her?”

Confusion appeared on her face.

“How would we know the answer without trying?”

After a while.

Kaori-san seemed both happy and embarrassed as she gave a light laugh.

“Thank you, Liang-chan. If I survive this time, let’s get married.”

“This isn’t the time to raise that flag, for various reasons, especially if you’re thinking about Fujishima-san.”

Fujishima Kaori’s blonde hair shone brilliantly like flowing dusk in the setting sun’s reflection. A faint blush appeared on her delicate pale cheeks.

“But… if Liang-chan doesn’t marry me, I’ll never be able to marry anyone else, you know?”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve seen everything… even such ‘inner,’ such ‘deep’ places… I can’t be with any other man anymore.”

“Oh wow, impressive. Still have energy for bad jokes? Looks like you’re quite lively after all.”

…

Several minutes later, the phone in his pocket rang. The appointed time had arrived.

The Novelist helped Kaori-san up from the ground, taking over pressing against her abdominal wound. They stood up from the crimson hell of flesh and blood, looking into the distance.

In the hazy glow where day met night, from the horizon and the end of the steel forest, the shadow of a giant iron bird rose, along with the sound of an approaching storm.