Murder Princess and the Summer Death Camp
Page 21
Glorious spring sunlight was shining down, and a warm breeze was blowing. It seemed as if the chirping of small birds, singing atop the roadside trees, was blessing Ayaka’s departure.
“I want to see you, oh, I want to see you soon, I want to see youuu. ” Cheerfully singing a catchy pop song, Ayaka walked with a bouncing gait. She was on her way to school for the first time in more than half a year. Her middle school uniform had felt somehow strangely ticklish when she put it on, and Ayaka had giggled to herself.
Fun! This is really fun! She was in such high spirits that she wasn’t even bothered by the stares of the other people walking down the road.
“‘I wish I could see you whenever I wanted to’… How ridiculouuus!” Taking a jab at the songwriter as she sang, she giggled again. Really, this world is so stupid. Despite that and because of it, things that weren’t like that—beautiful and refined—were precious, irreplaceable.
I don’t want to lose him, she thought. That’s why Ayaka was skipping along like this.
She wasn’t going to just keep on waiting, thinking, “I want to see him, I want to see him.” No, she had decided to go and see him, on her own initiative and on her own two feet. To see the most beloved person in the world to her…
“I want to see you, oh, I want to see you, soon I’m coming to see youuu. ” Continuing her clumsy rendition of the pop song, Ayaka walked on. Leaving the train station for downtown, she moved down side streets off the main road, weaved her way through residential areas and back alleys—and finally, she arrived at her destination.
Mounted on the imposing red brick gate was a black plate.
Written in gold letters:
Seirei Private Girls’ School
* * *
She passed through the unguarded gate into the deserted front hall. Students in tracksuits were having PE on the tennis courts; it didn’t seem to be Ayaka’s class. She watched them from the corner of her eye but continued walking. Near the cubbies, she took off her loafers and was about to change shoes.
“……?!”
Her breath caught in her throat. Ayaka’s indoor slippers were—missing. Violent nausea welled up in her stomach, and her pulse quickened. Unpleasant words crossed her mind.
Quickly, she reminded herself that this was needless anxiety. Hesitantly, she lifted the cover of the shoe cubby to reveal the loafers of someone in another class. That’s right… We advanced a year, so the classes changed.
A new question occurred to her: What second-year class was she supposed to be in? She didn’t know which classroom to head to from here. She had been out of school since the second semester of her first year and had neglected to check the class assignments. Of course, it wasn’t like she needed to go to the trouble of going to the staff room to ask…
“Well, whatever…it’s fine! As long as it’s got more than twelve people, any class will do.”
Nodding to herself, Ayaka strode down the corridor in her bare socks. In one hand, she carried a rectangular briefcase—the kind of black hard case used to store musical instruments. Swinging her clumsy baggage, heavy next to her small body, Ayaka steadily advanced down the hall, her mood nearly ecstatic. Not even once did she look behind her, back toward the path to which she could never return.
“Okay, I’ve decided! I pick…that class.” Ascending the stairs and turning down the hallway, Ayaka entered the nearest restroom, whistling all the way. At present it was 11:09—right in the middle of third period. No one was going to come in now. But still, just in case, she went into a stall and carefully locked the door. “Now then…okay, let’s hurry up and get ready!”
She set the case down on the toilet seat, and opened it. Removing the neatly sorted contents, she hummed a quiet tune while she assembled them. As she worked, thoughts of the person more important to her than anyone else filled Ayaka’s mind.
That person, who it would not be an exaggeration to call Ayaka’s “everything,” had been mercilessly snatched away a little more than half a year ago. Without even a warning, he had suddenly been…
For some reason completely unable to make contact with their parents, who were on an overseas business trip, and with nothing and no one to rely on, Ayaka had shut herself away in his room and shed many tears, continuing to search.
She searched for a way to see him again. She searched and she searched and she searched and she searched and she searched and she searched and she searched and she went on searching—
One day, about two weeks prior, finally—the hand of providence had reached out to her.
Ayaka had taken that hand without hesitation. And as she stood there now, resolved determination filled her chest.
“Okay, good…preparations complete!” She nodded, and checked the time again. Not even five minutes had passed since Ayaka had entered the restroom. Smiling in satisfaction, and leaving behind the now-empty case, she exited the stall. Before making her way out of the restroom, she checked the hallway, but as before, there was no one around.
Ayaka stepped forward confidently, headed for the nearest classroom. “I want to see you, oh, I want to see you, want to see you, want to see you, want to see you, want to see you, want to see you, want to see you, even if I can’t see you, I’ll come see you, to the ends of hell, I’ll come and see youuu. ” Singing to herself in a whisper, she walked with light footsteps—
“……”
She stopped below a sign that read SECOND-YEAR CLASS 1. Ayaka’s heart pounded. She held fast to her resolve. Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on the door. She would only get one chance. Failure would not be tolerated. But, Ayaka wanted to see him. She wanted to see him no matter what. She needed to see him. If it meant seeing him, she could do anything.
—She could accomplish anything. That’s why Ayaka set aside her anxiety, and gathered her thoughts, and—
“I’m coming after you now…big brother.”
As she made this pledge, she threw the door open with all her strength. At the clamor of the sliding door slamming open, the classroom fell silent.
“Miss…Kamiya…? Why are you—?”
The homely-looking woman in her forties was their Japanese teacher, Miss Takanashi. She had looked after Ayaka during her first year. There were a number of familiar faces among the students as well.
All of them, to a one, stared at her with confused expressions—stared at the thing that Ayaka was carrying in her arms. It did not register right away exactly what that thing was.
—A twelve-gauge, nine-caliber, continuous firing Browning shotgun.
Even when they understood what was happening, there was nothing they could do. As everyone sat, frozen in place, Ayaka resolved to complete her “work.” With a bright, cheerful smile, she pointed the barrel at the nearest target—a girl in black-rimmed glasses who stared at her blankly, still holding her pen to her open notebook.
“…Sorry! I want to see my big brother no matter what. In order to do that, I have to do the same thing that he did. So, for my sake…please die!”
—She pulled the trigger.
Psycome 2: Murder Princess and the Summer Death Camp / End
AFTERWORD Master of Ceremonies
The fact that you are reading this afterword must mean that Psycome, Volume 2 has already made it to bookstores. Hello! Or should I say, “Nice to meet you.” I am Mizuki Mizushiro.
As the subtitle Murder Princess and the Summer Death Camp indicates, Volume 2 is a story that takes place at a school camping excursion. The “love” and “comedy” components are present in somewhat larger quantities than before. After all, this is a romantic comedy series.
Even as I say that, it’s a house secret that an editorial stop was placed on making the book “too grotesque” or anything like that. On the other hand, at the same time, an editorial stop was placed on making the illustrations “too erotic”—
I hope that you can enjoy Psycome, Volume 2, which is being issued with such considerations.
Incidentally, wh
at your author enjoyed most was creating the guidebook. I even wrote details like “How to Fold Your Sheets,” but as expected, they could not be included. I also enjoyed the Murder Rap and other such things.
Well, then. Since the afterword is one page again this time, from here on it will be a torrent of thanks. To the person in charge, Ms. Gibu; the illustrator Namanie; the designers at musicago graphics; the PR team; my friends; my family; all of my relatives; everyone who had anything to do with the publication of this book; the readers who kindly read the previous volume; and above all, you who have presently taken this book in hand:
Truly, thank you very much! The next volume will be coming out sometime during the summer.
Mizuki Mizushiro
~Written while listening to BMTH~
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Copyright
PSYCOME, Vol. 2: Murder Princess and the Summer Death Camp
MIZUKI MIZUSHIRO
Translation by Nicole Wilder
Cover art by Namanie
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
PSYCOME
©2013 MIZUKI MIZUSHIRO
All rights reserved.
First published in Japan in 2013
by KADOKAWA CORPORATION ENTERBRAIN.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION ENTERBRAIN through Tuttle-Mori Agency, Inc., Tokyo.
English translation © 2016 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mizushiro, Mizuki, author. | Namanie, illustrator. | Wilder, Nicole, translator.
Title: Psycome / Mizuki Mizushiro ; illustration by Namanie ; translation by Nicole Wilder.
Other titles: Saikome. English
Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2016–Identifiers: LCCN 2016005815 | ISBN 9780316272339 (v. 1 : paperback) | ISBN 9780316398251 (v. 2 : paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: False imprisonment—Fiction. | Science fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Science Fiction / Adventure.
Classification: LCC PL873.I987 S3513 2016 | DDC 895.63/6—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016005815
ISBNs: 978-0-316-39825-1 (paperback)
978-0-316-39829-9 (ebook)
E3-20161005-JV-PC