B.A.D.

Volume 6 - CH 1.2



Mayuzumi told me that last night a man came to her.

“He said he crushed eyes,” she continued in a sweet voice, crushing eyeballs. “Gouged the eyes out of many people.”



The man had heard about Mayuzumi through rumors. He visited the apartment and made an urgent request through the intercom, pleading desperately.

“His request was so strange that I thought he was mistaken.”

He didn’t want to gouge eyes out anymore.

He wanted her help.

He pleaded over and over, but Mayuzumi turned him down.

“Asking for my help is tantamount to suicide.”

However, the man persisted and begged to be heard. Overwhelmed by his tenacity, Mayuzumi relented and opened the door with the chain still attached.

His bloodshot eyes met Mayuzumi’s.

The man’s eyes were murky, filled with blood vessels. Sensing danger, Mayuzumi quickly closed the door, but the man jammed an umbrella through the gap.

Repeatedly, the man attempted to poke Mayuzumi’s eyes with the umbrella.

“When I say our eyes met, it wasn’t just a simple exchange of gazes,” Mayuzumi recalled. “As soon as he perceived me, something in him changed. At that very moment, I was caught in his gaze and my eyeballs were violated… in his mind.”

Mayuzumi forced the door close.

The man struck the door with the umbrella over and over. The madness continued for a long time, until suddenly it turned quiet. He then apologized for what he did and fled the scene.

“It was like whatever evil spirit was possessing him left. I think it was the door blocking his gaze that caused the change. When he sees an eye, he gets an intense reaction. Almost like an addiction. His apology was likely meaningless.”

Meeting someone’s gaze burned all his sense of reason. He might temporarily regain his composure, but he would soon revert to insanity.

Mayuzumi rested her elbows on the leather couch as she spoke matter-of-factly. There was no hint of fear in her voice. Yet, I couldn’t help but frown at the lingering question: where had the man gone?

He was still out there, on the loose, with the police yet to catch him.

“He said he didn’t want to pluck out eyeballs. That means he doesn’t want to commit any more crime,” I said.

“If you were to take his words at face value, then yes. But why did he feel the need to inform me of this? Think about it. If you could solve your problem yourself, you wouldn’t need to seek help.”

Mayuzumi picked up a cup from the table and dropped an eyeball into the hot chocolate. The golden spoon twirled round and round.

“I believe he came to me because he was struggling with the compulsion to kill a woman after making eye contact,” she continued, scooping out the half-melted eyeball. “His episodes apparently last from the moment he makes eye contact with a woman until he plucks out her eyes. And then he sought help, only to flee without us having a proper conversation.”

The eyeball slid from the spoon and onto her crimson tongue, melting into a sweet fluid.

As I observed Mayuzumi close her eyes and swallow, I felt a chill run down my spine. What she was eating was mere candy, but it was disgusting nonetheless. Slowly, she opened her pretty eyes. The instant I saw them, her earlier words echoed in my mind.

“Odagiri-kun, I just might get killed.”

It can’t be.

“He murders women he makes eye contact with,” I said. “And the two of you did make eye contact. Is there any chance that he might come again to kill you?”

“A significant one. Our gazes met. That alone has likely left him with an abnormal craving for my eyeballs… Such is the nature of obsession.”

Her red lips curved into a smile. Her moist eyes blinked, emanating a captivating glow.

Mayuzumi did not seem concerned about the looming danger.

She lifted the cup with grace. “There are many urges in this world that can’t be contained unless you destroy the person. Perhaps it’s a difficult concept for you to comprehend, or maybe you understand it because of your own experience.”

A nasty gaze crept over my belly. The baby inside me squirmed. I clutched my stomach and averted my gaze away from hers. After finishing her drink, Mayuzumi placed the cup back on the saucer.

Without making eye contact, I posed a question to her. “Then why are you just sitting here? He knows about this place. He can break the door down if he really wants to.”

“You want me to seek protection from the police or the Mayuzumi clan? No way. It’s too much trouble. Besides, they might firmly object to my taking cases in the future. If the man comes to pluck out my eyeballs, then so be it. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Mayuzumi dismissed my suggestion with a bored tone. My head aching, I tried to think of a different solution. She didn’t want protection, but I couldn’t just leave her like this.

Mayuzumi was just a frail little girl. Her attitude was infuriating, but I couldn’t bear to see her eyes being gouged out.

“Then I will report it to the cops myself,” I suggested. “He has claimed lives already, so they can’t ignore any information on him. In the meantime, you stay in a hotel or something. Does that work?”

“I would love to see how you would explain the situation. Fine, then. I doubt you’re going to make any more compromises. Moving is annoying, but it beats waiting around to get killed.”

Mayuzumi heaved a weary sigh—something I should be doing instead. How did I meet the man? Who owns this apartment? I needed to come up with answers to the inevitable questions.

I stood up, unable to think of anything. I closed the chocolate box and headed to Mayuzumi’s room to gather essentials. Her extravagant wardrobe wouldn’t fit into one suitcase, so I carried several bags filled with clothes back to Mayuzumi.

“Let’s go, Mayu-san. The sooner we leave, the better.”

“Well, aren’t you in a hurry? Where exactly are you planning to take me?”

“Let’s see… My apartment would be fine, but there’s no AC.”

Mayuzumi trailed behind me, a look of discontent etched on her face. We left the office, suffused with a saccharine aroma, and hastened to the underground parking lot by means of the elevator.

As the elevator creaked to a stop and the doors groaned open, I was greeted by the smell of rusty iron. A pungent stench assaulted my senses.

Something incongruous had crept into the familiar environs. A brilliant crimson hue was splattered across the drab gray floor.

I stood transfixed by the unusual scene. Standing before me was a man in a raincoat, holding a black umbrella. Several drops trickled down the surface of the umbrella, forming a small puddle on the floor that seemed to inch towards his black leather shoes.

The man seemed to have come through the rain.

But it wasn’t raining today. The droplets were red and sticky. The red hue on the ground was slowly undulating like a living entity, extending its arms in all directions.

My eyes caught sight of a twisted, round object stuck to the tip of the man’s umbrella, with what looked like a red thread tangled around it. It took a moment for me to register that it was an optic nerve.

The man suddenly lifted his head. Narrow eyes peered at me from beneath the gray raincoat. Blood vessels coursed the whites of his eyes, and his pupils darted around restlessly.

Finally, I realized what was happening. I swung the suitcase in the man’s direction. I missed my mark, and the suitcase fell at the man’s feet as he jumped back.

I turned to Mayuzumi, my voice laced with urgency. “Run, Mayu-san!”

The man lifted his bloody umbrella and aimed it at me like a sword. The tip grazed my cheek, sending a sharp jolt through my eye.

Acute pain pierced my eye sockets and rattled my brain. My vision turned black, and blood spilled out.

“Huh?”

The sensation vanished instantly. Sticky tears ran down my face, and it felt like something was digging into my eyeball. My vision flickered. I moved my feet to get away. My instincts warned me not to come into contact with the red umbrella.

I didn’t know what would happen if I grabbed it.

My feet got tangled, and I almost tumbled to the ground. Tears clouded my vision. Through my twitching eyelids, I caught a glimpse of a twisted figure.

He raised his umbrella high, and brought its grip down upon my forehead.

My skin split open, and blood poured out. As I covered my face with my hands, I was struck in the back of the head, sending me crashing onto the hard pavement of the parking lot. It felt like a hand was clawing my skull, stirring the inside. Warm stomach acid spewed out of my stomach. The child in my belly whined in concern.

I opened my bloody eyes. In my obstructed view, I discerned a dark figure.

The parasol in her hand was as vividly red as the man’s umbrella.

I reached for her, trying to warn her to run away.

My consciousness faded.