“Kazue…”
Katakura Hayabusa, who had been tinged with a hint of viciousness during the conversation moments before, immediately softened his expression, like a snarling hunting dog that had received a satisfying bone.
At first, Katakura Hayabusa didn’t actually like the little sister the old man had brought back. He even found her annoying and hypocritical. He never believed that someone as solitary as himself could be liked by others. He thought Kazue was just faithfully playing the role of the obedient younger sister in the family.
Until one day, when he went inside early and overheard a conversation between Aunt Keiko and Kazue outside the door, he realized that he had misunderstood them all along.
“Does Kazue like brother Hayabusa?”
“Love him the most.”
“Even though brother Hayabusa hardly pays any attention to you.”
“I’ll work hard to make brother Hayabusa like me. Because brother Hayabusa is actually very afraid of loneliness, and kinder than anyone else. He must be going through something, so he’s not willing to accept me right now. Someday, I will make him like me.” Kazue giggled. “Thank you, Mom, for giving me a brother. I will treasure him.”
Katakura Hayabusa didn’t immediately come to like Kazue. He always treated her coldly.
Because Katakura Hayabusa hated anything mushy and saying things like “love you the most” so easily. He thought it was cheap to express affection casually. He preferred to use actions to show someone: I like you too.
He saved all the good things for Kazue. When she thanked him, he would just snort and say:
“I just don’t need them, that’s all.”
The old man was scum, but during that time, Katakura Hayabusa was truly grateful to him from the bottom of his heart. If the old man hadn’t found Aunt Keiko and Kazue, Hayabusa would never have had the chance to experience these hard-won feelings.
It wasn’t until one day in the future that he understood: the old man’s gifts always came with poison.
Katakura Hayabusa walked to the French window and looked down at the cars passing through the streets of Kabukicho.
Those cars passed by the tall buildings, turning Hayabusa’s expectations into disappointment again and again.
“When the hell is Kazue getting here?”
“In less than thirty minutes, you’ll be reunited with the sister you haven’t seen in four years.”
“Tsukiyuki, do you know where Aunt Keiko was sold to?”
“I strongly suggest you don’t ask.”
“I have the right to know what sins the old man committed. That way, when I swing my baseball bat at his face, I can swing it even harder. Besides, Aunt Keiko was a gentle woman. She always tried to get along with me and put up with my willfulness, just like a real mother.”
“Do you really want to know?”
Tsukiyuki Rio’s calm exterior made her seem like a god looking down on all living beings, devoid of compassion.
Actually, Katakura Hayabusa had already inferred from the implication that Aunt Keiko was no longer alive.
But he still wanted to know the truth.
Sensing the resolve in Hayabusa’s eyes, Tsukiyuki Rio finally spoke:
“In some parts of Africa, barbaric customs still remain. There are even tribes that practice human sacrifice and cannibalism. Your Aunt Keiko was sold to a place like that.”
Hayabusa clenched his fists, his teeth grinding as if they would shatter, his eyes filled with boundless hatred.
That old man really will do anything for money.
Even a woman who had once slept with him… he actually…
“Can I ask which country exactly?”
Tsukiyuki Rio named a small country that Katakura Hayabusa had never heard of, but the name of that obscure little country would forever be etched in his memory.
“Are you sure Aunt Keiko was sold there?”
“If you need photos, I can provide them. It’s just that I’m afraid you might break down.”
“I won’t break down.”
Katakura Hayabusa was smiling. Not a single tear fell.
It was a smile that seemed to come from a vicious wild beast.
The maid handed Hayabusa a photo. It was indeed Aunt Keiko. Even through the photo, Hayabusa could see her signal for help.
But no one came to save her.
“That son of a bitch, he really can’t do a single human thing. Right now, I really want to cut open that old man’s belly, pull out his intestines, and feed them to the pigs. I also want to gouge out his eyeballs with a kick and crush them until they burst. Ah, I want to kill someone. My hands feel so itchy…”
“When you kill Katakura Yuuta, please be sure to invite me and Gao-kun as special guests to watch your patricide. I think for Gao-kun, it would be excellent material.”
“Tsukiyuki, you really have twisted tastes.” Hayabusa cast a terrifying, crazed gaze. “If you really want to watch me kill, do as you like. But I won’t be asking how well-done you want it.”
While talking with Tsukiyuki Rio, a sound came from the elevator.
Hayabusa’s body stiffened instantly.
The crazed murderous intent in his eyes vanished at once.
“Is Kazue back?”
Tsukiyuki Rio nodded.
“Ah, what should I do? Wait, do you have any hair wax? Will she think dyeing my hair blonde is lame? Damn it, I should have never listened to that barber’s nonsense and dyed it.”
He casually grabbed the hair wax and sprayed it wildly onto his hair, then ran his fingers through the blonde streaks. He stood in front of the mirror, trying hard to put on a gentle and sunny big-brother expression.
It had been four years since he last saw Kazue.
It would be bad if he left a terrible impression on her.
“I think your little sister won’t care about your current appearance.”
“That’s true. After all, it’s Kazue.”
Hayabusa smiled wryly and hurried to the hall.
“Kazue!”
He saw the sister he hadn’t seen for so long.
He froze.
The child standing behind the blonde maid couldn’t even be recognized as a girl. Short, spiky hair, dark skin, and a body so thin it looked like a bag of bones.
Was this still that Kazue?
The once delicate and pretty Kazue, how had she become like this?
Most crucially, upon seeing Hayabusa, Kazue had no reaction at all. Her eyes were dead, like a koi in a fish tank, her mouth opening and closing but not a single word coming out.
More than a human, she resembled a shell that had lost its soul.
“Mr. Katakura, we found your sister in the slums of P Country (Philippines). She was eating PAGPAG at the time,” the blonde maid said.
“What is PAGPAG?”
“It’s food sifted out of slop, like leftover chicken pieces, chicken bones, rice, vegetables, and so on. After cutting off the moldy parts, they wash it with disinfectant powder, then cook it and stir-fry it—that’s PAGPAG. Your sister was already very lucky, because in P Country, many poor people can’t even afford PAGPAG.”
Hayabusa lifted his head, let out a desolate laugh, then knelt on the ground and bellowed:
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!”
