The sun sank into dusk, rosy clouds climbing across the sky.
Inside an old, run-down movie theater, only a few people sat scattered about. The projector light was dim and antiquated, and on the screen was the reflection of a summer from many years ago.
The movie was bad.
Kira Nanami found himself convinced of that fact once again. Truth be told, he was not particularly interested in movies. The reason he often came to the theater was simply that it was quiet enough, old and shabby enough, teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, with hardly anyone around.
The reason he liked black-and-white films was obvious too: no one came to watch them.
He simply liked the atmosphere of a movie theater. Once the lights went out, everyone was swallowed by darkness and no one could see anyone else. Only the light and shadows of the previous century flowed across the screen. Kira Nanami liked that sense of another era; across the long gulf of time, it let him feel the tranquility of the past.
Of course, the most important reason was that he had nothing to do at work.
Going home would be too obvious. There was little foot traffic here, making it the perfect place to slack off.
But even Kira Nanami, who had no standards whatsoever when it came to movies, thought this one was bad.
Human Earthworm 3 was probably going for a grotesque, gory style, but Kira Nanami simply could not immerse himself in it. For some reason, he could not put himself in the protagonist's shoes. On the other hand, he found the final villains—the ghosts, monsters, serial killers, all that blood splattered everywhere, all the dismembering and mutilation—far easier to relate to. It even felt rather heartwarming.
This definitely was not Kira Nanami's fault. He knew he was a perfectly normal human being. If he could not immerse himself in the film, then the director was to blame.
So, really.
Rather than calling this a grotesque splatter-horror film, it would be better to call it a heartwarming slice-of-life comfort film, like Winnie the Pooh and his friends. In any case, after watching it, Kira Nanami felt thoroughly refreshed.
Hoshino Ei, sitting beside him, seemed to be enjoying herself. She propped her chin on one hand against the armrest and stared at Kira Nanami.
Irritated by her staring, Kira Nanami calmly turned his head and grunted.
"What?"
"...Nothing."
Even as she said that, she continued staring at Kira Nanami. A faint smile rested on her face, her amber eyes never blinking.
"Just looking a little longer while I still can, in case I don't get to see you again."
Human Earthworm screamed on the screen as blood and bones flew everywhere.
Those ghosts and monsters were getting absolutely no respect. To Hoshino Ei, this movie was probably no different from Tiny Times.
Just as awful, and just as obsessed with romance.
Kira Nanami sighed again, shifted his gaze away from Hoshino Ei, and returned his attention to the heartwarming slice-of-life unfolding on the screen.
Mm. The heroine had just been decapitated. Kira Nanami found the technique rather amateurish.
He really should have believed what Yoshino Junpei had told him.
Human Earthworm 3 really was a terrible movie.
Just as he was thinking that—
"K-Kira... Kira-kun?"
A pleasantly surprised voice came from beside him.
Kira Nanami looked up at the sound and saw a boy with a shy smile. He wore a high school uniform, and his long hair covered nearly half his face.
Noticing Kira Nanami looking at him, Yoshino Junpei explained:
"Um, our school had a mixer with another school nearby... It was already pretty late when it ended, so I thought I'd stop by and watch a movie."
"And I heard some school legends from the other school, so watching a horror movie right now felt kind of fitting."
He looked much more cheerful than before.
Kira Nanami nodded to him.
Yoshino Junpei was actually rather excited. Kira-kun always gave him a sense of closeness, and hardly anyone liked black-and-white movies these days. Seeing the seat beside Kira Nanami empty, he wanted to sit down and have a proper chat with him.
"Can I sit here?"
After receiving permission, Yoshino Junpei sat down.
But the instant he did, a hair-raising sensation shot through him. An icy chill, like the cold of an ice cellar, crawled straight up Yoshino Junpei's spine. He shuddered and instinctively raised his head.
He met a pair of cold, expressionless eyes that looked at him as though he were already dead.
It was the look one gave a homewrecker.
Hoshino Ei leaned beside Kira Nanami. Her exquisite face resembled a doll displayed behind glass, and her snow-white hair fell over her delicate collarbones. She raised her chin slightly, lowered her gaze, and stared at Yoshino Junpei just like that.
'Go away, go away, go away, go away, go away, go away.'
'I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I'll kill you.'
Her entire body seemed to radiate murderous hostility. For a moment, Yoshino Junpei actually felt that this beautiful girl in front of him was even more terrifying than the Human Earthworm on the screen.
He swallowed softly and asked tentatively:
"Um... is this young lady Kira-kun's lover?"
More than half the hostility around her vanished.
Hoshino Ei wore an expression that clearly said, 'You've got a good eye, kid.'
No, wait. The ages did not match. The girl in front of him looked sixteen or seventeen at most, probably around his age, while Kira Nanami only looked young; he must actually be somewhere in his twenties.
Yoshino Junpei shook his head, rejecting his earlier conclusion.
"No, that doesn't look right—you two must be siblings, then?"
The line between life and death was right there, and Yoshino Junpei began hopping back and forth across it. Unfortunately, on his final hop he went a little too far and plunged straight into the filthy ditch of hell.
"Yeah, you must be siblings. A real couple wouldn't come watch this kind of movie together..."
"Ngh... mm."
Hoshino Ei had already begun grinding her teeth. She ground them hard enough that blue veins stood out on the back of her slender hand.
Kill you, kill you, kill you...
A black aura, pure malice, rose from her body.
At her core, Hoshino Ei was still a Cursed Spirit. Cursed Spirits were naturally hostile toward humans and hated humanity; Hoshino Ei naturally possessed that instinct as well.
Yoshino Junpei could sense cursed energy, and by now he was already having trouble breathing.
"Hoshino."
Kira Nanami spoke softly and turned to look at Hoshino Ei.
"What is it, Kira-kun?"
Hoshino Ei instantly dropped her dark, teeth-grinding expression and assumed a perfectly reserved posture.
"This movie is so scary."
"It scared me too."
She clenched her fists and put on an innocent, pitiful look.
Kira Nanami was helpless. These days, he was becoming more and more helpless—seriously, he had no idea what to do with this shameless creature.
"Go on. The school mixer, and that interesting school legend."
"Oh. Right."
Yoshino Junpei came back to himself with a wry smile.
"I just heard them mention it casually... Recently, several students at that school fell unconscious, but after waking up they said they couldn't remember what had happened. So people started saying something about ghosts and stuff. Oh, and they passed out at a famous suicide spot."
"A famous suicide spot?"
"Have you heard of Yasohachi Bridge?"
As Yoshino Junpei said this, a corpse on the screen happened to explode, and the dim light washed over his face.
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