【006】Monster

【Tanaka Akio】

“At first it was probably just a momentary lapse. Were you starved for love? Or did you have a fetish that aroused sexual excitement for high school-age girls? You call on Tamura-kun often, don’t you? That means you want to immerse yourself in a sense of superiority. But you only called on me once and haven’t called on me since. You hate being looked down on, Sensei. You don’t want to face the fact that you’re inferior. I know, you know? At university, Sensei was initially hyped up as a genius, but you kept writing self-indulgent papers that got rejected. Of course, you didn’t think it was your fault. Then people started looking down on you. Even so, you didn’t try to change. You concluded everything was everyone else’s fault. Everyone except you was an idiot who didn’t recognize your qualities. But Sensei, think about it carefully. Do you think people bother looking down? If they had that energy, they’d use it for themselves. Making fun of people is actually quite exhausting, you know? You were self-absorbed and couldn’t see your surroundings at all, so you didn’t notice, but surely your peers didn’t ridicule you at all. Maybe you weren’t even worth ridiculing. They say the opposite of love is indifference, right? It’s like that. But since then, you’ve come to hate being looked down on. At the same time, you learned the pleasure of looking down on others. Compensated dating is part of that, isn’t it? The people who did compensated dating with you said you strangled them and were violent. You act tough to make yourself look bigger. It’s the same with calling on students in class. You want to show off your abilities. Did the students’ gazes feel good? Was looking down on inferiors fun? But don’t you think it’s sad? Originally, you should have been aiming upward with people who shared your ambitions. Yet before you knew it, you only looked downward and became a disgusting person who gets pleasure from tormenting students. What would your deceased mother think of you? Ah, bringing up Tamura-kun’s parents might have been because you saw yourself reflected there. Your mother earned money through night work and couldn’t pay much attention to you. She died early, so you grew up without knowing parental love. You projected the same thing onto Tamura-kun, didn’t you? How was tormenting Tamura-kun? Was it fun? Did it feel good? Could you immerse yourself in superiority? Didn’t you feel any guilt? Of course not. That’s the kind of person you are. That’s the kind of existence you are. Really, truly, you’re such a pitiful person.”

◇

Who is this…?

I thought it was terrifying.

I’d never thought someone was this terrifying. I couldn’t see the person in front of me as the same kind of human.

Is this really Nakano Nanaka?

A high-class flower. The school’s number one beauty. Excellent grades, outstanding athletic ability, good personality. A perfect talented woman. That’s our recognition as teachers.

But the Nakano in front of me is different.

She’s smiling. Smiling with that supposedly good-natured smile. That makes it all the more eerie.

“Who are you?”

I find myself asking.

That’s how much the person in front of me doesn’t seem like the same Nakano.

“Who? Well, hehe, you say strange things.”

Nakano is laughing.

Laughing even in this situation.

“I’m Nakano Nanaka. Your student, Sensei.”

“No, no… who are you?”

“I told you, I’m not different—”

I still can’t believe it.

So what if the person in front of me is Nakano?

Why does she know my personal information?

How does she know about my mother?

Who are you? Who?

“Compensated dating is a crime. That’s common sense, right?”

I gasp.

I remember the main point.

“I, I haven’t done compensated dating. What evidence do you have?”

“That’s no good—posting records on social media. ‘JK Training Record,’ was it? Honestly, I was disgusted. Nobody would enjoy such a self-indulgent session, not even a masochist—”

“What, why, ah, why?”

“I’ve already posted the images and videos. They’ll probably spread throughout the school by tomorrow morning—”

Spread throughout the school…?

Huh? So what does that mean?

“Y-you—what have you done!”

I lose myself.

I attack Nakano.

Unforgivable. I can’t forgive this.

My life plan is in tatters.

At least I have to strike back.

No, I’m not even thinking that far. My body is just desperate to kill this woman. I try to grab her by the throat.

But just before.

Crack!

My consciousness goes dark.

◇

When I wake up, I’m in a dark place.

I’m lying on my back on the ground, my hands and feet bound. A towel is wrapped around my mouth so I can’t speak. Even when I try to move my body, I’m bound all over with rope-like things and can’t move.

Damn it, what’s going on?

Why am I in this situation…!

I roll over with force.

I’m in a black room. I don’t know where. There aren’t even windows.

But I know this floor texture.

Where was it…

“Are you awake?”

“—!”

I turn only my eyes toward the voice.

Nakano is standing looking down at me.

“Uuuu—!”

I gasp. Nakano has a knife in her hand. It glints in the dark place.

“Ah, this? I won’t use it. It’s just for threats.”

Nakano waves the knife around showing it off. Just for threats? That doesn’t matter.

This woman is insane.

She’s trying to kill me…!

“Na, ah, ueh!!!!”

I scream.

But the towel blocks it and it’s hardly verbalized.

Still, Nakano understands.

“Why? That’s simple. Tanaka-sensei. Because you hurt Tamura-kun—Misa-kun—by bringing up his parents.”

Misa-kun?

For a moment I don’t know who that is.

Could it be Tamura Misaki?

Is Nakano creating this situation for his sake?

“Misa-kun has experienced so much, so much misfortune that at some point he stopped thinking of misfortune as misfortune. He thinks being bullied is his own fault. When he lost his parents, he mourned his own ugliness. That’s the kind of person Misa-kun is. He’s not some tragic protagonist. Just a person. An empty person. —But that won’t do.”

I don’t understand what she’s saying.

“Misa-kun has to be unhappy. He has to feel unhappy. He has to be more unhappy than anyone, hurt more than anyone, sadder than anyone. That’s where I appear. Like an angel. A world with just me and Misa-kun will be created. To give him lots and lots of love while being bullied, he has to feel misfortune—”

What angel?

There’s no way you’re an angel.

There’s no way such an abominable existence exists.

You’re a monster.

“But you’re no good. You stepped into our world, so I have to punish you. Don’t worry, Sensei. Your noble sacrifice won’t be wasted. It will surely become the foundation for creating a world with just me and Misa-kun.”

She raises the knife.

Hey, wasn’t that just for threats?

This person’s words are contradictory.

You make him unhappy because you love him?

What are you saying?

What are you doing?

Why! Am I being killed!?

Why! Am I dying!?

Stop it.

Don’t kill me.

“Goodbye, Sensei—”

Sto—