Chapter 8

On my way back from work, as I walked down the pitch-black night path, I spotted the silhouette of a girl wearing a school uniform—perhaps a high schooler—walking ahead of me, illuminated by the light of a security lamp.

The time was seven in the night.

“Out by herself this late… isn’t she scared?”

I found myself worrying about that girl, even though she had nothing to do with me.

“Even a guy like me feels a bit creeped out…”

Perhaps noticing my footsteps, the girl walking ahead of me glanced back over her shoulder.

Then, immediately turning back around, she picked up her pace.

Huh?

Could it be that she’s on guard against me…?

We just happened to be heading in the same direction with absolutely no ulterior motives, but maybe wearing a face mask made her mistake me for a suspicious person.

I intentionally slowed down my walking speed a bit to put some distance between us.

After a short while, the girl’s figure was completely out of sight.

Confirming that no one else was around, I muttered to myself in the darkness,

“—If I don’t find a bad guy and kill them within the next six days…”

Killers die if they don’t kill someone within a week.

If I were to believe the words Akira told me, my life had only six days remaining.

Even if I wanted to check, the only way to test it would be through my own death, so I really had no choice left but to do it.

Since I couldn’t go around killing innocent people, my targets would have to be bad guys.

Thinking that, I spent the entire day observing others while making client rounds, but there weren’t easily any bad guys deserving of death.

I spotted uncles smoking while walking and young people occupying priority seats on the train, but none of them were bad enough to warrant getting killed.

“What should I do…”

Lost in thought, I found myself standing in front of the convenience store near my apartment before I even realized it.

Temporarily pausing my thoughts, I was lured in by the lights, heading into the convenience store in search of a bento box.

Then,

“W-What in the world!”

A girl waiting in line at the cash register raised her voice the moment she saw me.

“—Eh? Me?”

“Y-Yes! You—you were following right behind me, weren’t you!”

Looking closely at the face of the terrified girl, I realized she was Misa-chan, the daughter of Shimizu-san who lived next door.

“No, w-wait a second. It’s a misunderstanding. It’s me, it’s me—Onitsuka from next door!”

Panicking, I pulled off my mask and pointed at my face to explain to Misa-chan.

Being treated like a molester in front of other customers was the last thing I wanted.

“You saw me when you moved in, right? I just happened to enter this convenience store by coincidence!”

“O-Onitsuka-san…!? B-B-B-?!”

Misa-chan’s eyes went wide round, and then, as if all the strength left her body, she slumped down limply onto the floor.

“So it was Onitsuka-san… I thought for sure you were a pervert…”

“Customer, are you alright?! Shall I contact the police?”

A male store clerk rushed over to Misa-chan’s side.

The gazes directed at me by both the clerk and the other customers were the very definition of looking at a suspicious person.

Give me a break… I’m a regular customer at this convenience store.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m fine! I’m sorry for shouting, it was just my misunderstanding, I’m really sorry!”

Remaining seated flat on the floor—having lost her footing—Misa-chan bowed her head to the people around her.

“This person is someone I know, so it’s completely fine!”

“I-Is that so…”

Whether convinced or not by Misa-chan’s words, the clerk returned behind the checkout counter with a noncommittal expression.

Hearing Misa-chan’s explanation, the customers finally stopped glaring at me like a suspicious person.

“Hey, can you stand?”

Since I bore a fraction of the responsibility for how things turned out, I reached out a hand to Misa-chan.

“Ah, thank you…”

Misa-chan tightly grabbed my hand and slowly stood up.

And then,

“I’m sorry about earlier. I got so startled.”

She bowed deeply.

“I’m also at fault for wearing a mask, but I’m the one who got startled here.”

I had almost gotten tangled up with the police on suspicion of molestation.

Getting arrested for molestation without even having my murders exposed would be far too pathetic.

“I am truly, truly sorry!”

“No, it’s fine already, don’t worry about it.”

Misa-chan kept bowing her head over and over to an extent that made me feel awkward, so feeling genuinely apologetic, I decided to change the subject.

“By the way, you went to the aquarium yesterday, right? Was it fun?”

“Ah, yes. You heard from my mom, huh? The aquarium was super fun.”

“Is that so. Did they have a dolphin show and stuff?”

“Yes. The rain stopped, so my mom and I got to watch it.”

“I see, that’s good.”

As if her gloomy expression from moments ago was a complete lie, Misa-chan’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at me the moment the topic shifted to the aquarium.

This girl might look put-together on the outside, but she was surprisingly childlike on the inside.

Watching Misa-chan talk so innocently, I couldn’t help but feel that way.