Boogiepop Returns VS Imaginator Part 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

stabbing it deep into her own neck.
    “. . . . . . . . !”
    For a second, the girl's blood sprayed out, filling the air; and then she fell over.
    “Aiiieeeee!” There was a scream.
    At the end of the alley, a woman walking by had seen this. She quickly ran away.
    Asukai rushed over to the girl.
    She was gasping. Her face was back to normal. She was gone.
    “Shit. . . !” Asukai pushed his handkerchief against the girl's wound, but half her blood had already emptied out of her in a massive geyser.
    Eyes hollow, the girl whispered, “. . . . . . it. . . . . . t . . .”
    Asukai leaned close, putting his ear to her lips.
    “. . . mn it, damn it, damn it,” she swore. Cursing everything in the world. “Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, da--!”
    Asukai stared down at the girl. She had no choice but to stay angry until the very end.
    He grit his teeth, and put his hand on her chest.
    It was so much easier than he'd thought.

    ***

    “Let me get this straight. . . moments after she assaulted you, she suddenly stabbed herself in the throat? This is your story?” The detective asked. He was speaking to the key witness, who had stayed by the side of the body until the patrol cars arrived.
    “Yes,” Asukai said instantly. There was a bandage around his neck, applied by the doctor at the police hospital.
    “You say you knew this girl?”
    “Yes. Her name is Imazaki Shizuko. She's about eighteen. I don't know her address, but it's probably still in the files at the cram school. I taught her last spring.” He answered smoothly, without faltering. No emotion.
    “Did she have something against you? Any idea what?”
    “Maybe. She came to me for counseling, but I guess I didn't help her much.”
    “Well, from what we've been able to ascertain, her family situation was at the root of it,” the detective admitted. He'd decided Asukai's calm responses proved his innocence. “She had reason enough to kill herself.”
    “Suicide?”
    “Yeah. She wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway. The drugs had wrecked her system. The way she died was comparatively pain-free. Overdosing's a nasty way to go. Truth is. . . we'd had our eyes on her for dealing for a while now. I can tell you that she wasn't much good at it. Heart wasn't in it.”
    “You knew about her?”
    “She was low level for another pusher that we're after, but the big man's still hasn't shown his face.”
    'You knew, but didn't save her?!' Asukai's poker face hid this thought perfectly.
    “You'll be free to go soon. We've got a witness, so we know you didn't kill her. Soon as we wrap things up here, you can leave.”
    “Thank you,” Asukai bowed his head.
    The investigation was over soon enough, and he signed and stamped his statement as directed. Asukai rose to leave.
    “Oh, Asukai-san. . . this is just my personal question, but. . .” the detective started.
    “What?”
    “While she was dying, did you say something to her?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I don't mean anything. Just that girl, dying that way. . . her face was awfully peaceful. Like the thorns in her heart had all been plucked away. If something you said put her mind at ease, then you must be one hell of a teacher.” The aging detective nodded keenly.
    “Sorry, I. . . I didn't say anything,” Asukai replied quietly, and left the room.

    ***

    Soon, Asukai found himself walking through the evening streets again.
    For every alley he found, he stopped, and peered down it looking for some sort of sign. His eyes never missed a thing, like the eyes of a hawk searching for its next target.
    Then he heard a sound, like something falling over. Like the girl's moans, the sound was so faint nobody else around even noticed.
    “. . . . . . . . .”
    But he turned instantly, and went down the alley towards the sound's origin.
    He found some people there. Seven in all -- six boys and a girl.
    Something was clearly going on -- the girl's clothes were torn, her naked and vulnerable