Aoyagi is not human.

If the scene seen at Kifune Myojin Shrine that night was real, then Aoyagi was definitely not human.

To this day, Kazuhiko Nagaoka still remembers the terrifying images at that time.

He still remembers the wind that night.

An old wooden shrine somewhere loosely structured, creaking in the wind.

Nagaoka and his friend Egawa hid in the mountains and forests behind the shrine, lit cigarettes one after another, and began to swallow clouds and mist.

He remembered the dark red sparks flickering in the shadows of the trees.

Then Jiang Chuan found something, flicked the cigarette ash, and raised his hand to point somewhere: "Nagaoka, look over there, that guy...... It's Aoyagi, right? ”

Nagaoka followed his friend's instructions, and sure enough, in a small open space behind Kifune Myojin Shrine, he saw a somewhat familiar back.

Although the environment is a little dark, it should be Aoyagi in the same class.

However, Nagaoka and Egawa, as problem students, did not have any intersection with such good students, so they did not talk to each other.

Aoyagi over there probably didn't notice the two people in the shadows of the woods.

So Nagaoka and Egawa continued to smoke cigarettes by themselves, while casually observing what Aoyagi was doing alone.

About half a cigarette has passed.

The two heard strange noises.

It squirmed, like the wriggling sound of some kind of viscous gelatinous substance. It's subtle, but it's heard very clearly in the sound of the wind and the squeaking of a loose structure somewhere in an old wooden shrine.

And this sound came from the direction of Aoyagi.

Aoyagi, who was not far away, was originally standing quietly with his back to the two, but at this time he suddenly bowed down.

Immediately after that, there was an incredible scene -

Aoyagi's body cracked.

Nagaoka didn't know how to describe what he saw.

He saw that Aoyagi's had broken into several pieces in an instant, as if there were invisible sharp lines in the air that cut him irregularly.

The bright red pieces of flesh crumbled into the air, but none of them fell.

They are strung together by dense black lines, forming a messy human figure that wriggles and stretches through the dim woodland.

And those rustling sounds are the result of the constant blending of those weird blacks in Aoyagi's body!

Both Nagaoka and Egawa were stunned by the terrifying scene in front of them.

They both covered their mouths so that they didn't scream, but their eyes widened and they looked at each other in horror.

"Run!"

Nagaoka no longer remembered how he and Egawa had escaped the forest of the shrine.

But Aoyagi at that time still didn't seem to notice their presence.

Until I ran to the main road under the shrine mountain, I didn't see Aoyagi chasing after me.

The crowd of people participating in the celebration on the road also made the two settle down a little.

Nagaoka: "What should I do?" ”

Egawa: "We...... Looking for someone to go back and see? ”

"What nonsense! There's no way I'm going back there, what if that thing is still there? ”

"So what do you say?"

"But, that Aoyagi guy is a monster. We've all seen it, we're in the same class in the same school as a monster, we're going to see each other every day, we have to do something, right? ”

"Egawa, did you see the face of that thing just now?"

"Nope."

"Then it doesn't have to be Aoyagi, maybe it's just a back image."

"No, he's definitely right."

Obviously, a great event happened, but the two discussed it for a while, but unexpectedly did not come to any results.

Egawa seemed to be extremely convinced that what he had just seen was Aoyagi.

But Nagaoka still has doubts about this.

Taking a step back, what should you do if you really find out that one of your classmates who gets along with you day and night may be a monster in human skin?

Tell anyone else?

No one would believe this kind of thing, would they?

What's more, the object is still Aoyagi, the Aoyagi who is so liked by the teachers and classmates in the class.

……

Nagaoka and Egawa still didn't do anything after all.

In fact, nothing could be done.

Until the day of going back to school.

On that day, Nagaoka deliberately walked into the classroom with Egawa, and soon saw the familiar back.

Aoyagi.

Viewed from behind, it looks exactly like the silhouette of the monster you saw at Kifune Myojin that night.

At this time, Aoyagi was talking and laughing with the girls in the class, and the atmosphere was very good.

Nagaoka and Egawa just stared at each other's backs without daring to breathe.

Immediately afterwards, Aoyagi seemed to finally feel the gaze from behind him, and turned around: "What's the matter, Egawa-kun?" ”

He smiled with a natural expression.

It's no different from usual, and he's still a good student who is popular.

I couldn't imagine that such a person would be a monster.

So, in the face of Aoyagi's questioning, Nagaoka just shook his head and sat back in his seat.

Jiang Chuan just snorted and walked away from the side.

After two classes in the morning, nothing happened, everything was as usual.

Although Nagaoka was still nervous, deep down, he seemed to relax a little more, and he thought a little bit of luck.

Perhaps, he and Jiang Chuan just misread it that night?

It's just that he sees something in the dim mountain forest as a supernatural monster.

Or, he and Egawa really saw something strange behind Kifune Myojin Shrine.

It's just that it's not Aoyagi.

In any case, there is still a possibility of this, right?

This does not affect the possibility of later life.

When it was time for the third physical education class, Egawa found Nagaoka.

"Nagaoka, did you see that? Aoyagi's thing is obviously a monster, but he still pretends to be a good man...... Even Nonaka has been circling around it. ”

Perhaps because there was no anomaly at school, Egawa's fear of Aoyagi was significantly reduced.

As for Nonaka, she is the girl in the same class that Egawa likes.

It seems that I've always been close to Aoyagi before.

If you say that you were unwilling before, you will be unwilling, but you are helpless.

But now, Jiang Chuan seems to feel that he can't let things go on like this.

The girl he likes is being blinded by a monster in human skin, and maybe she may be hurt later, and she can't watch this happen.

"Egawa, I don't think what we saw that night was Aoyagi." Nagaoka said.

"Nope! It's got to be him, I'm sure! ”

Because of the emotional problems between adolescent men and women, Egawa secretly pays attention to Aoyagi more often than Nagaoka.

So he was incredibly sure he was not mistaken.

Egawa: "Listen to me, Nagaoka. Since we bumped into Aoyagi's true appearance that night, we should find out the true face of Aoyagi and let the wild see it and let everyone see it. Nonaka couldn't stay with that monster any longer, something was going to happen. ”

Nagaoka: "What are you going to do?" No...... Have you already done something? ”

"I just snuck back to the classroom." Egawa looked left and right to make sure that no one cared about them before continuing, "I went to Aoyagi's seat. I added a few thumbtacks to his bento. Listen to me, isn't there a disgusting black line under the human skin of that monster? If you can cut through its skin, everyone will definitely be able to see it. ”

"That's ...... Isn't it good? ”

"Not so good? It's not a human, it's a monster. Look, wait until noon, everyone will see, I'm saving everyone. ”

Nagaoka still didn't stop his friend's behavior.

Just like he had no intention of finding out "Aoyagi's true face", he chose to wait and see.

At noon, when everyone was having lunch in the classroom, Nagaoka also paid attention to Aoyagi sitting in front of him.

But Aoyagi has been normal, finished lunch like no one, and then got up and went out to clean the food box.

Then for the whole afternoon after that, my friend Jiang Chuan just sat in his seat in silence.

Nothing happened until the club activities began.

On the way home, Nagaoka and Egawa got together again.

"Hey, you're just talking, aren't you? You didn't put a pin in Aoyagi's bento. ”

My friends still haven't done such a thing.

That's fine.

"I'll let it go." Jiang Chuan's face was pale.

"What?"

"It ate the thumbtacks in front of me. It looked at me defiantly and ate the pushpin! I said it, Aoyagi was the monster of the day. It's a monster......"

Regarding what Egawa said, Nagaoka didn't see it with his own eyes.

Because at noon, he sat behind Aoyagi.

But looking at what his friend said and looking at his expression, it really doesn't look like it's fake.

If Aoyagi is really a monster, it means that it has already set its sights on Egawa, and maybe even on itself.

As soon as he thought of this, Nagaoka was terrified, and he panicked for a moment: "Then we ......"

"We're going to be able to deal with him! Obviously I'm just a monster in human skin, and he dares to look down on me. ”

"Are you going to continue?"

Compared to the fact that Aoyagi is a monster, the words that Jiang Chuan said through gritted teeth surprised Nagaoka even more.

Nagaoka didn't know what was wrong with his friend, and he actually thought about fighting a monster.

"Nagaoka, we want to save everyone, we want to save everyone."

……

The development of events after that was completely beyond Nagaoka's expectations.

As if enchanted, Egawa insisted on proving to everyone that the dazzling, well-liked Aoyagi was a monster in human skin.

What he did to Aoyagi turned into bullying.

Even in Nagaoka's eyes, what they did was bullying.

Truly.

Both Nagaoka and Egawa are problem students.

They smoke and skip class to go online.

But these actions are confined to themselves.

But bullying is different, it's too bad, it's too bad.

So even Nagaoka began to alienate the rivers that were a little out of control.

One day later, because Jiang Chuan's behavior was really excessive, he was invited to his parents and ordered to suspend school.

Nagaoka remembers that day.

I remember that Jiang Chuan was pressed to the ground by two male teachers, constantly struggling and roaring, like a wild beast that has gone berserk. His eyes widened, and he glared angrily at Aoyagi, who was the victim:

"Come on! You monster, don't be pretended! Show everyone who you really are! Show everyone what's under your skin! ”

"Let go of me! I'm saving you! You idiots, you don't understand anything! Idiot! Loosen up, let go! ”

At a certain moment, Jiang Chuan, who was struggling, turned his attention to Nagaoka again.

Perhaps, he wanted his friends to stand up and speak for him.

But looking at his friend, who had completely lost his mind, Nagaoka flinched again.

He didn't know why Egawa was the way he was.

He couldn't tell if what he saw behind Kifune Myojin Shrine that night was Aoyagi or not.

I don't know if what Egawa said about "Aoyagi's monster has been provoking him" is true.

Perhaps, Aoyagi actually has no problem?

Perhaps, Egawa was just jealous that he was too close to Nonaka, so he would do this?

And Jiang Chuan saw that his friend was silent, and his struggling movements finally weakened, and he just bit his lip angrily, biting the corners of his mouth to the point of bleeding.

Perhaps, in the eyes of everyone today, compared to Aoyagi, which is harmless to humans and animals, Egawa is ......

More like a humanoid monster.

……

Egawa was taken away from school by his parents, and he heard that he was going somewhere to receive psychological treatment.

Nagaoka's life was calm again, and he didn't want to think about whether Aoyagi was human anymore.

But about half a month later, Nagaoka saw Egawa again.

That's in class.

Dressed in thin clothes, Jiang Chuan walked straight through the door into the classroom.

He was originally in a healthy body, but in a short period of time, he was thin, his hair was messy, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He walked into the classroom through the back door like no one else, so that no one reacted.

Egawa passed by Nagaoka's side and didn't even glance at his former friend.

He walked straight to the edge of Aoyagi's seat.

"What's wrong, Egawa-kun?" And Aoyagi was still smiling at Egawa.

"Monster ......"

Then, to everyone's surprise, a sharp origami knife slashed Aoyagi's neck.

In that moment, in a fleeting moment. Whether it is Egawa, who wields a knife, or Aoyagi, who is attacked, they are all extremely calm.

It's as if the horrific attack had nothing to do with the two parties at all.

Syllable!

The table and chair overturned, and Egawa threw himself on Aoyagi's body, and the origami in his hand was dripping with blood, constantly lifting and falling.

"I told you, he's a monster! Look, look! ”

The heavy smell of blood filled Nagaoka's nostrils.

He heard his classmates screaming, crying, and vomiting.

Jiang Chuan used the origami knife to cut Aoyagi's abdomen in front of everyone, but those terrifying, dense black lines did not appear.

Under Aoyagi's skin, there is nothing but bloody flesh and blood.

What happened after that, Nagaoka really can't remember, and he doesn't want to remember it anymore.

All he knew was that a large number of police officers had come to the school.

He only knew that he had never seen Jiang Chuan since then.

(End of chapter)