Tomitake gathered up his paperwork and slipped it inside his bag.

"They sure were persistent.

Hahaha, I wonder if they really want us dead."

"Hee hee.

...How rude of them, huh? It was only a dream."

"Please make sure that Dr. Irie examines Rika-chan.

Her nightmares might be a symptom of something.

If anything happens to her, it would be a disaster."

Takano touched Tomitake's hand gently.

As he turned bright red, Takano moved in closer and spoke.

The way she acts is just too sexy, Tomitake thought.

"............Hey, Jirou-san.

I have something very important to tell you.

Will you listen to me?"

"Wha, what is it?

...You have something to tell me too?

Haha, hahaha... I hope you didn't see me claw out my throat in a dream.

Hahahaha."

".........What would you say if I did?"

"...Eh......?"

Takano stared at him with a mischievous look, as if seducing him...

and started whispering into his ear.

"...Hee hee.

......I'm really surprised.

That girl might have a godlike power after all.

Hee hee hee hee."

"Umm... ahaha, what does that mean...?"

Takano smiled gently and pulled back her hair.

...Even seeing her do that made Tomitake's heart race.

"...I really like you."

"Th-That's good to know...

Ahahahaha..."

Takano's fingers curled around Tomitake's chin, stroking, tickling, and caressing it.

Her movements were very captivating and seductive.

"...I've dated a lot of guys, but none of them interested me as much as you.

I've learned that someone with a personality like yours makes the ideal partner for me.

...You're willing to accept everything I stand for.

I believe that you understand me completely.

...That's why I can give you everything I have.

......I want you to accept everything about me...

Do you understand...?"

"............Um.

...Well, Takano-san...

What's the matter...?"

Her voice didn't really sound that affectionate.

...Tomitake knew from experience that he couldn't grasp what was on her mind when she wore a cold smile like that.

"......Finally.

...It's almost here."

It seemed as though she couldn't wait for something to happen.

There was a chilling allure to her strange smile... that made one question if something exciting was really about to happen.

"......What... what's almost here?"

Tomitake asked, trying hard to resist the temptation.

"............The day

my dream comes true."

"Your...

...

..

dream..."

"Yes.

My dream.

............Didn't I tell you before?

Or do you forget about everything we talk about in bed...?"

"N-No...

I remember,

.........your...

dream..."

Tomitake's response was vague.

Either he didn't remember, or he hadn't understood it very well.

"......Finally... the curse of Oyashiro-sama is going to come true.

That's what I've been dreaming about ever since I was a child.

...Hee hee hee."

"............."

"...Jirou-san.

Listen.

.........I can't be with you anymore."

"What...?

...Wh-What do you mean...?"

".........You see, I belong in a different world.

...Hinamizawa is where humans and demons once coexisted.

......That's why we met each other here.

......But all that is going to come to an end soon.

...The eclipse of the sun brought humans and demons together.

.........Do you understand what I'm saying?

......Hee hee hee hee."

"Takano-san...... did you drink a bit too much at the festival?

...Ahahaha... you're drunk, right?"

"......Tonight is a night of farewells.

...Thank you for teaching me about the sunlit realm.

Your warmth was like the glow of the midday sun.

...We really did have a wonderful relationship.

...I'm so sad that we have to say goodbye."

She pulled herself away from Tomitake and slowly stepped back.

...As if signaling the time had come for them to part.

"...I don't know what you're trying to say...

What's this all about, Takano-san...?"

"............I want you to make a decision.

I want you to decide to stay with me, and abandon the sunlit realm.

......If what you told me was all true............ then I know you have no doubts..."

...By that time, Tomitake understood that Takano was asking him to make an important decision.

".........Could it be...... you're........."

"...Hee hee.

...That's right.

...Jirou-san."

Tomitake got up from his seat and looked Takano straight in the eyes.

...There was a faint glimmer of hostility within those eyes.

".........Is your work... more important than me...?

...I thought so..."

"...I can't believe this...

I trusted you...!"

Those words were ones of rejection.

...Takano's lips twisted into a cruel smile.

".........Oyashiro-sama united the humans and the demons...

but I guess he can't unite you and me.

.........Hee hee hee hee."

Takano slowly opened the door.

Six men in overalls were standing there at the ready.

Tomitake was frozen in shock.

The six men walked up to Tomitake with no expressions on their faces.

It was immediately obvious that they were going to do something to harm him.

"...What is this all about!?"

"Hinamizawa Syndrome is like a bomb with a lit fuse.

Your plan is to dismantle that bomb before it explodes.

...However, there are some people in Tokyo who want to see it go off."

"No!

What good will that do for anyone?"

"Nobody ever does anything that isn't beneficial to them.

Therefore, if they want that bomb to explode, it must be doing good for someone.

Your question just now is a pretty meaningless one."

"...I-I can't believe this.

There are people who want that to happen?

Hinamizawa Syndrome is a very dangerous disease! You know that as well as I do!"

"I do. It would be a disaster if it had an outbreak.

Tokyo wouldn't be able to cover it up, either."

"...D-Did that faction bribe you?"

"It was actually my mission from the very start.

...I'm so sorry.

We belonged in different worlds from the moment we first met."

"......What are you going to do to me...?"

"It would be a great help if you came over to our side.

Of course, that would mean that you'd have to betray your own people."

"...You're expecting me to turn on them...?"

"Jirou-san.

If your feelings for me are real, will you support me?

You'll be compensated, of course.

If you wish, I'll dedicate my whole life to you.

I'll do whatever you want me to, whenever and wherever you want.

My body will belong to you.

You can dominate me to satisfy your needs whenever you like.

......I'm willing to be all yours.

...Hey, don't you want to dye this body of mine in your scent...?"

Her words were a kind of assault, directly hammering at the emotions men had difficulty resisting.

They were like an evil spell to control his heart.

Upon hearing them, Tomitake felt an unknown sensation rush up his spine as his feet froze in place, entranced.

...However, he forced himself to resist the temptation.

He sealed the cracks in his wall of reason to stop Takano from forcefully entering his heart...

"Ugh...

...

...

...

...

...

... I refuse...!"

"Hee hee hee,

ahahahahahahahahahahahaha ha ha ha ha!"

She had known from the start that Tomitake was going to refuse her.

Even so, Takano let out a triumphant laugh.

It's funny.

She thought Tomitake would refuse right away.

However, it took him a while to refuse because of how effective she was at seducing him.

The time it took him to refuse her was one of victory for Takano.

For Tomitake, it was a time of humiliation.

Takano continued to laugh.

She sounded rather like an evil witch.

"......I thought you would say that.

That's why I love you so much."

Takano raised up her right hand and gave a signal to the Mountain Dogs.

"Okonogi-kun... You're betraying me too?"

"...I'm sorry, Lieutenant Tomitake."

"Are you surprised?

The Mountain Dogs work for me.

It was us who controlled this clinic all along.

You and Dr. Irie are the only people who didn't know...

Hee hee hee..."

"......Shit...!"

Tomitake moved into action, sensing the danger that was about to befall him.

His fist thrust out as quick as lightning, knocking one man down before he could even blink.

However, the other Mountain Dogs certainly weren't going to just stay there and watch.

They all attacked him as one.

He tried to strike back with an elbow, but he simply couldn't overcome the difference in numbers.

Tomitake tried his best, but soon enough the Mountain Dogs had wrestled him to the ground.

"D-Dammiiiiiiit!!!

Let go! Let me go!!"

"Stop struggling already!!

Waaaaaagh...!!"

They pinned him down so that he couldn't move an inch.

"Impressive, Jirou-san.

You fought pretty well, considering you were up against six people."

Takano walked over and smiled while looking down at Tomitake.

"............Hey, Jirou-san.

I know you're going to refuse, but let me ask you one more time...

Will you change your mind and join my side...?"

"...N-Never...!

I'll never join with you...!!

Uuugh...!!"

"That's what I wanted to hear.

So I could sever all my attachments.

Hee hee hee hee."

Takano was holding a small case in her hands.

She opened it and showed Tomitake what was inside.

"...Wha...... What's in that syringe......?"

"Oh, come now.

I'm sure you know what it is.

Hee hee."

"...No...

We destroyed all of them...!!"

"Jirou-san...

Let me guess what you're thinking.

Even if this is what you think it is, you should still have immunity because you took the vaccine.

...Hee hee.

Isn't that what you're thinking?

That's why you're not scared, right?

...Well, let me tell you something nice. That vaccine you took before you came here was fake.

You may not have noticed it, but you're already an L3 patient of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

Jirou-san, you have a tendency to look away when you get an injection.

That's not very smart.

You should always make sure of what you're getting.

Hee hee hee hee."

"Sh-Shiiiiiiiit!!

Let me go!!"

Tomitake struggled to get away, but he simply couldn't move.

Upon seeing his sorry state, Takano laughed with glee.

"......I'm sure you know very well about H173.

You'll become infected instantly, and will virtually become an L5 patient.

You saw how the experiment turned out, no?

The subject was displaying extreme irritation in the neck and armpit areas.

Based on our past studies, patients with L5 suffer from extraordinary irritation in their lymph nodes.

It might be an antigen-antibody reaction.

...In other words, Jirou-san...

If you're lucky, you might be able to die just as Rika-chan predicted.

Hee hee hee hee!

Are you going to kill yourself, or become disabled for life...?

Which would you prefer...?

Which one, Jirou-san?

Hee hee hee hee!!"

"Stop... Stooooop!!"

"It's going to be too difficult to give him the injection like this.

Put him to sleep, please."

One of the men covered Tomitake's mouth with a towel soaked in some kind of chemical.

He tried to fight it off with all his might, but his strength eventually left him, and he became as quiet as a beached whale.

Takano stroked his face to make sure that he couldn't resist.

Then she brought the needle toward his throat.

She pushed it right into his skin.

...As she squeezed down... on the syringe's plunger,

the skin surrounding the tip of the needle swelled up...

...and eventually the contents were absorbed into his body.

"Goodbye, Jirou-san.

When you wake up, you'll be in the middle of a wonderful nightmare.

Hee hee hee hee."

The Mountain Dogs finally got off of him.

He couldn't even twitch.

"Someone put him in my trunk."

Two of the men lifted up Tomitake and carried him outside.

"...Oh, hold on.

I'm sure he'd be happy if I left him his bicycle.

That way, he can enjoy cycling in hell too."

The Mountain Dogs all quietly laughed at the joke.

"We are now going to commence Operation Doomsday."

They stopped laughing as she began to speak.

"Okonogi, you wait for the contact from headquarters.

Keep your eyes on Dr. Irie.

Also, keep tabs on Rika Furude too.

I don't know what kind of power she has... but she predicted how Tomitake was going to die.

...Hee hee.

I'm very curious about her... but too bad."

"Roger.

I'll take care of things here.

Please be careful on your way."

"There's not much to be careful of.

By the way, where's Dr. Irie...?"

"I'm sure he's attending the festival's afterparty.

He's still at the shrine."

"I wish I could see the look of panic on that nerd's face.

Hee hee."

The Mountain Dogs started laughing again too.

Takano checked the time on her watch.

It was nearly 10 PM.

Most people must have left the festival for home.

Those people still there were probably enjoying the afterparty while getting drunk inside the shrine.

It was a good time for her to leave without being seen by anyone.

"I'm leaving now.

I'm going to go and die.

Hee hee..."

After saying that, she left the clinic alone.

She left through the back door.

She left amid the moonlight, the singing of insects, and the sound of a river...

It was a typical night in Hinamizawa.

...While enjoying all these sensations, Takano got inside her car.

Tomitake was sleeping inside the trunk.

His bicycle, on the other hand, was loaded into her back seat.

...Hee hee.

How ironic.

Your bicycle has a better seat than you.

I'll let you out of there soon.

I should leave him by the road that leads to Okinomiya.

That'll be a good spot.

Takano found a good place to drop him off,

but she gave up on it, as there was a police cruiser parked in the area.

...She figured that they were probably patrolling to make sure the fifth year's curse didn't happen.

Good job, officers.

No one would ever suspect that there's a curse packed in my trunk right now.

Takano drove onto less-lit streets with rougher roads.

Eventually the mountain road ended, and she was surrounded by darkness.

There were rice fields nearby.

She could tell by the sound of the croaking frogs.

Takano parked her car by the pitch black roadside.

She had to stop here, otherwise she'd be too close to a residential area.

Indeed, she was nearly in Okinomiya.

She would have dumped him earlier, but the police cruiser had foiled that plan.

Takano pulled Tomitake out of the trunk and left him by the road.

She also left him his bicycle.

Tomitake let out a small groan.

...It probably wouldn't be long until he woke up.

"Good bye, Jirou-san.

Your awkward sweet talk was very entertaining.

I wish I could hear it again.

Hee hee.

You'll be waking up soon.

By that time, you'll be in the final stage of L5.

After a futile struggle, you'll meet with a miserable demise.

I wonder if you really are going to claw out your throat and die...

I wish I could be here to see it.

Hee hee.

Your mysterious death and my disappearance will complete the fifth year's curse of Oyashiro-sama.

The story of the curse of Oyashiro-sama will be firmly established.

You should feel honored... Jirou-san. You're going to be part of history!

You might be losing your life here, but in a way, you're going to live for eternity.

............Hee hee hee hee."

That was her last farewell to Tomitake.

Takano got back inside her car and started driving.

She could see the place she left Tomitake in her rearview mirror, but it was already shrouded in darkness.

Takano drove through the main street of Okinomiya and made a few turns, heading for the dark mountains in the distance.

It had been a while since she left Hinamizawa.

It was almost midnight.

She might have already made it to the neighboring prefecture.

...It was difficult to tell because she couldn't really see anything in the darkness.

Takano stopped her car in the middle of all that.

After turning off both the engine and the headlights, there really was nothing but darkness surrounding her.

It was as if time itself had stopped.

Takano wasn't sure how long she waited, but eventually she saw the headlights of a car blinking twice.

She blinked her own headlights back at it.

Soon, she saw several people walking toward her.

Two men wearing blue overalls knocked on the window of Takano's car.

Obligingly, she opened it.

They looked over her face and the paperwork they had in their hands.

"Hello.

I'm Takano."

After confirming her identification, they called someone over the radio.

"Hello...

We've got the lady.

Anyone following?"

"......Sss...

sss...

... No one is after you. You're clear for 400 meters."

"Nobody's following us.

Your work is much appreciated.

Please come with us to the command vehicle.

I'll take your paperwork."

"The paperwork is inside the trunk.

Here's the key.

I do need some coffee.

Could you get me some?"

The command vehicle was a trailer with a bunch of high tech communication equipment inside.

The light of the electric equipment shone beautifully in the dark.

"Here's your coffee, Major."

Another man in blue overalls offered her a paper cup.

"Thank you.

What's going on with my corpse?"

"They've finished setting it up in Gifu Prefecture."

"Gifu?

Did I burn to death in the mountains of Gifu?"

"I'm not sure about the cause of death...

I'll confirm it with someone."

Operation Doomsday.

That was the name of their mission.

The goal of the operation's first stage was Takano's escape from Hinamizawa and the extraction of eighteen specific classified documents.

That goal had been completed.

Assassinating the liaison from Tokyo, Tomitake, was also one of the goals.

That one had also been completed in the way Takano had planned.

He was not killed that way just because Takano had wanted to see it.

It was intentionally planned that way, so that the office in Tokyo would be suspicious of the Irie Institute.

They were trying to create the story that the Institute was upset with the recent budget cuts and the cancellation of their study.

Tomitake's mysterious death would be a suitable way to persuade people.

Tomitake was not the only one who was expected to die. Takano was expected to do so as well.

However, Takano didn't really need to die herself.

They had acquired a substitute body for her, so she didn't have to actually die.

Takano had no idea how they got the body.

According to what she heard, a team in Gifu took care of everything.

Once Tomitake and Takano were dead, Tokyo would definitely grow suspicious of the Irie Institute.

The main purpose of this mission was to make the Institute look reckless...

"I'm sorry, Major...

There's been a problem in Gifu."

"...A problem?

What sort of problem?"

"They made a mistake with the corpse.

The body has already been dead for twenty-four hours..."

"...I see. Then I wonder how things will play out.

In other words, you're saying I was already dead as of yesterday."

Takano's body was supposed to be selected from the corpses of people who had died the same day.

The plan was to then burn the body and make identification of the corpse more difficult.

They'd found a suitable body for the plan...

However, they just found out that it had been dead for over a day.

...That would create a hole in their plans.

"They're going to collect another body to use instead..."

"Hee hee.

No, that's fine.

We can still use that body as me."

"Huh...?

But that would mean..."

"The messenger of Oyashiro-sama was long dead, but came to the festival regardless......

Hee hee... that's a good one.

That's a very, very good one.

...Heh heh heh heh...!"

Takano laughed with satisfaction for a while.

The other people in the vehicle couldn't understand why Takano was laughing so much.

Takano continued to laugh as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"Go ahead.

Call the team in Gifu and tell them to stop looking for another body.

I think this will make for an interesting twist."

"...Are you sure?

Shouldn't you be more cautious...?"

"Don't worry.

Everyone saw Miyo Takano walking around at the Watanagashi festival.

Even if the forensics lab does find out that the body's been dead for more than a day, they'll just think that the test results were wrong.

Hee hee hee hee!"

Takano almost seemed to be enjoying the risk.

"...R-Roger.

I'll notify them."

"By the way...

Was my body burned inside of an oil drum?"

"Yes.

It seems someone already discovered it on the mountain near the freeway."

Takano seemed surprised to hear that from him.

Then she started laughing strangely again.

Nobody could figure out why she was laughing like that.

"I see.

...The reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama really is gifted.

.........I have to admit, she has a supernatural power that defies explanation.

...Tell the Mountain Dogs in Hinamizawa to tighten up security on R."

"Roger."

"Major...

The Okinomiya police department has discovered the body of Tomitake."

"...They have, huh?

The show is about to begin.

Hee hee hee hee!"

"Ooishi-san, Dr. Irie has arrived."

"Oh, thank you for coming!

So, what do you think, Dr. Irie?"

Ooishi entered the area enclosed by a blue tarp.

In there, people from forensics were taking pictures of the dead body from various angles.

Irie was squatting down next to the dead body of Jirou Tomitake.

...When he stood up, he was white as a sheet.

".........I can't believe it."

"...Yup. I can't believe it, either.

As far as I see... he clawed out his throat

with his bare hands.

This isn't a normal way to die.

Most likely, some kind of dangerous drug must have caused it."

"...Are you saying that he was a drug addict?"

"I don't know, was he?

It's going to be my job to find that out."

"............Ooishi-san,

what's this two-by-four doing here?"

"I think... he was swinging it around.

And then, he threw it away, and he had more fun clawing out his throat, I guess."

"......Why was he swinging the two-by-four around?"

"He probably did it in self-defense.

...Did you notice there are several external injuries on his body?"

"...Yes. I can see some bruises."

"The easiest explanation I can think of is this

...

...

...

He was attacked by someone on his way home to Okinomiya after the festival.

He was seized by the culprit, given a shot of some kind of dangerous drug, went crazy, and died."

"...I've never heard of any drug that can make people claw out their throats."

"I'm not an expert on it, either... but they say self-harm is one of the terminal symptoms for drug addicts, right?

Well, I'm sure the old man in forensics will take care of the investigation."

"Excuse me, Ooishi-san!

We found a bicycle believed to belong to Jirou Tomitake a mile away from here."

"Oh, is that so. Thank you.

Did you find anything on it?"

"Not yet.

They're investigating it right now."

"So, that means ...the place where the bicycle was found is most likely the place he was attacked.

...And he ran away from the culprit and came here... ...Hummmm."

Ooishi frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Irie was looking at the miserable corpse of Tomitake, and he kept saying the same thing.

"...............It's impossible.

...It's just impossible."

Irie knew right away that Tomitake's death was caused by the terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome.

He hadn't swung the two-by-four at a real person, but probably saw some kind of hallucination due to the L5 symptoms.

Violent reactions to hallucinations is one of the clearest characteristics of the terminal stage.

However, Tomitake supposedly took a vaccine before he came to the village.

There was no way he could reach L5 symptoms in such a short period of time.

Irie didn't want to believe it...

but it was obvious that someone intentionally injected him with the pathogen.

The pathogen must have been strong enough to give him L5 symptoms immediately.

The only drug that can do that... is H173.

A chemical weapon that induces an acute onset of symptoms.

It makes people hallucinate, which inevitably leads to a horrible death...

It's the absolute worst kind

of demon.

However, they had destroyed all of it due to its dangerous nature.

All that was left were helpful chemicals, such as vaccines and treatment drugs...

...Tomitake was their liaison from Tokyo.

Whoever killed him must have had full knowledge about him and this drug.

...How would that person know he was their liaison?!

It was then that Irie thought of Takano.

Takano is also a watchdog from Tokyo.

She's something like a superintendent.

...It was quite possible that something bad had happened to her too.

"What about... Takano-san?

What happened to Takano-san?!"

"What?

Oh, are you talking about your nurse?"

"I think she was with him.

Is she okay?!"

"...Do you know her phone number?"

"Of course."

"Kuma-chan.

Get her phone number from Dr. Irie and have someone at the station call her home."

"Understood!

Doctor, can I have the number?"

"Yes, ummm... Here it is."

Kumagai got the phone number, repeated it to make sure he got it right, and dashed out of the blue tent.

"Doctor.

...Takano-san and Tomitake-san were close friends, weren't they?"

"Yes."

"...Have you heard about any troubles between them?"

"No.

......Not even once.

They were very close friends."

Tomitake and Takano weren't just in a close relationship.

They were coworkers sent from Tokyo.

They had access to information that even Irie didn't.

There's no way there was trouble between them.

"Well, I hope she's alright.

...In the worst case scenario, she could be dead, or she could even be the perp.

...Hmmm, I see. Nurses do have access to dangerous drugs, don't they?"

"...We don't have any drugs like that at my clinic. Even if we did, we'd store them with extra care.

There's no way Takano-san could smuggle out a drug from my clinic..."

"But it's easier for nurses to do it than for regular people, right?"

"Like I said, I've never heard of a drug like that, and I don't have anything like that in my clinic...!"

Irie made clumsy excuses while he tried to piece together what was going on.

...However, Irie had no means of knowing the state of affairs in Tokyo, and he couldn't reach any further conclusions.

So it was easy to laugh at him, as though he's a frog trapped in a well.

"Ooishi-san, she isn't home.

The standby unit says they're going to go to her house to check."

"Doctor, can you give me her address?

Kuma-chan,

can you also check if the police headquarters has found any unidentified female bodies tonight?

...Maybe we should check with the other prefectures, too.

Get the section manager to call all the nearby prefectural headquarters and ask if they have any unidentified female bodies."

"Yes sir!"

"The Okinomiya police department is contacting the Gifu prefectural police department."

"Are you sure about this, Major...?"

"Sure.

I don't mind.

Just leave it there.

Doomsday has almost arrived, anyway.

Everything will be destroyed before they even find out that the time of death doesn't match.

Hee hee hee!"