Chapter 12 – The Boogieman and The Detective
Day 29 - 563 students remaining.
Shuji, Maro Taro and Kanna spend the day planning the final move. Around 3pm, Shuji decides to go over the finalised plan. They all stand in the detective’s office. Shuji continues to speak after going over the plan.
“I already told Mikuni what I plan to do. This will be our one shot at this. We can’t mess it up.”
Maro Taro has some reservations.
“You can’t be serious about this! I won’t let this happen!”
Kanna puts her hand on Maro Taros shoulder.
“It’s ok. I volunteered for this, after all.”
Maro Taro is still frustrated.
“Just so you both know, I don’t agree with this.”
They wait until nightfall, when the boogieman is about to leave his hideout. They decided that this will be the time to strike. Mikuni’s guards still patrol the area heavily at night. Next to the games hall, Kanna stands on a street corner by herself. Mikuni’s guards nod towards Kanna and leave the area where she stands. Time continues to pass but there is no sign of the boogieman. The time hits 4:30am.
Inside the games hall, a clicking sounds occurs as Juro unlocks the basement door. His fingers rest on the side of the door as he begins to open it. The boogieman leaves his lair.
“Mikuni, you will die tonight.”
Juro grips his knife tightly as he peaks outside of the games hall’s main door. Juro breaths heavily as he scans the nearby streets. He notices that Mikuni’s crew are not nearby. Juro then leaves the games hall.
“Just as I suspected. The security gets weaker during the early hours of the morning. The next two hours are the perfect time to strike. I need to kill him before the streets become populated.”
He notices the nearby unaware Kanna on the street corner.
“Fresh meat? I suppose taking another victim won’t hurt, in case tonight’s plan fails.”
Juro Yamazaki begins to head towards Kanna. He sneaks up begins Kanna and strikes, knocking her unconscious. He then begins to drag Kanna to his basement hideout in the games hall.
He enters the basement of the games hall and begins to tie Kanna up.
“Time is of the essence. I’ll be seeing you later.”
Juro then prepares to leave the games hall but as he turns around, he is greeted by a sight unfamiliar to him. An enraged Shuji stands before him and strikes with a punch to the face before he could figure out what was happening.
“Juro Yamazaki, your time is up.”
Juro gets up off of the floor and points his knife at Shuji.
“Since day one I’ve wondered. I’ve wondered what would happen if I break the no killing rule.”
Juro Yamazaki begins to swing his knife at Shuji.
Shuji keeps stepping backwards and dodging most swings. However, on a few occasions, the knife lightly cuts Shuji. Shuji begins to think to himself.
‘He’s clearly gone insane. I’m at a disadvantage here. He’s fighting to kill but I’m fighting to capture.’
Shuji then gives a signal.
“Now!”
Maro Taro jumps out. Before Maro Taro could assist Shuji, Shuji goes to throw another punch at Juro. Juro grabs Shuji’s arm and cuts him across the chest and then stabs towards Shuji. He lands the tip of his blade in the area above Shuji’s eye, going through his eyebrow and piercing his skin. Maro Taro is in shock. Juro Yamazaki releases his hand as Shuji Falls back and screams in pain.
“Now die.”
Juro prepares to kill Shuji. Before he could strike, Maro Taro jumps in and punches Juro with full force, knocking him to the ground. Juro’s knife slides across the floor. Maro Taro then goes to check on Shuji. He crouches next to the fallen Shuji.
“Shuji! We’ll get you to the hospital, don’t worry!”
Shuji tries to speak through the pain.
“Maro… the knife.”
Maro Taro begins feeling an ominous presence behind him. Juro Yamazaki stands there with his knife in hand.
Maro Taro quickly turns around and attempts to stand and dodge Juro’s attack but Juro stabs him in the shoulder as Maro Taro lets out a scream of pain. Maro Taro was able to stand through the pain. He holds his shoulder in agony as he stands face to face with Juro.
“I remember you. You’ll pay for messing my plans up. Now die!”
Juro rushes towards Maro Taro. Maro Taro bears an expression of fearlessness. Maro Taro uses his brute strength to hit Juro’s arm, causing him to drop the knife.
“ARGHHHHHH!”
Maro Taro strikes Juro again, knocking him to the ground. Maro Taro gets on top of Juro and begins to strike him in the face constantly with incredible force.
Juro arm begins to move around as he tries to find the knife. Juro manages to grab the knife and bears a fierce expression as he begins to move his arm towards Maro Taro.
Maro Taro notices, but it is too late for him to act. However, he is saved. Shuji has jumped over and lands on Juro’s arm. Pushing his hand and the knife to the ground. Shuji wrestles the knife from Juro’s hand.
“You dare to hurt my friends.”
A cold expression lingers over Shuji as he points the knife towards Juro Yamazaki. He looks towards Maro Taro who shakes his head. Shuji nods and then throws the knife across the room.
The fight is over. They tie the boogieman up and then untie Kanna and wake her. Kanna is in shock over the state of them.
“What happened to you?”
After they explain the events that occurred, Kanna tries her best to perform some medical care and stop the bleeding. Shuji steps in.
“I can handle my wounds. Maro Taro got stabbed a lot deeper than me. Take him to the hospital or he might not survive.”
Maro Taro lays on the floor in agony, holding the area where he was stabbed. Kanna looks at him and nods.
“Ok. Once I’ve gotten him to the hospital, I’ll come back.”
Kanna puts Maro Taro’s arm over her shoulder and begins to carry him towards the hospital.
Shuji looks down at the feared boogieman, who is now tied up and helpless on the floor.
“Those fishhooks aren’t so intimidating now. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out what to do with you.”
Two hours pass by. Juro Yamazaki doesn’t say a single word during this time. Kanna returns.
“Shuji! How are you doing?”
Kanna looks over at Shuji who has an opened first aid kit next to him.
“I stopped the bleeding, but I’m certain I’ll have a scar on my face for the rest of my life.”
Kanna looks over at Juro in disgust.
“Did he say anything?”
Shuji shakes his head.
Shuji looks at Juro.
“Mikuni will decide your fate, Juro Yamazaki.”
Juro is lost in thought. Juro Yamazaki begins to think to himself.
‘Because of my shitty life, I was the saddest in this game by default. I had to find a way to excite myself, I had to find a way to stay alive.’
Juro recalls his time as a child, playing with his parents. Then he remembers the day that it changed. The day of the crash.
‘When I was 8, my parents died in a car accident. I had no relatives and was forced to live in care.’
Juro recalls the moment when he found out about his parents’ death. He ran into the bathroom and began to cry. Juro remembered the last words his mother said to him.
“No matter what, if you keep smiling, then everything will be ok. Just keep smiling, my little angel.”
The young Juro looks in the bathroom mirror and tries to put on a fake smile.
Back in the present day, Juro looks into a fragment of glass in the room and sees his reflection. A fake smile graces him now like it did back then. This time, it was weaponised into a symbol of terror by the fishhooks forcefully holding it up.
Juro looks at himself with disgust and shame.
However, another event was about to occur. The clock hits 7am and unknown to them all, the countdown has ended.
They all pause as they realise that the saddest person is about to be announced.
“The time is 7am. It is now day 30. The system has decided that Juro Yamazaki is the saddest person in the city. That is all.”
Juro begins to chuckle as he faces the gun in the corner of the room and prepares to embrace death.
Bang…
The boogieman, Juro Yamazaki, is dead.
The city was frozen. News quickly spread that Juro was the boogieman and the city began to rejoice. Finally, the citizens of the city could live in peace. People could live without the fear of the boogieman.
After the events of today, Mikuni was glad. Mikuni stands alone in his office. He begins to monologue as he feels at ease with the death of Juro.
“With the boogieman dead, only three people in this city have the potential to destroy my eden. But I’m not worried about any of them. They’ve all been dealt with in their own ways.”
Mikuni looks very serious.
“I will keep a close eye on them all though. Kenro… Shuji… Tamotsu…”
