NOVEL NEXT Episode 7 - The Cicada that Died in Autumn
Episode 7: The Cicada that Died in Autumn
When Aki was twelve years old, she encountered a serial killer.
The cicadas’ song had not yet faded, and autumn’s crisp chill was quietly creeping into Nagawa City.
In this city, there was a well-known historic bookstore that everyone knew about, situated at the end of the road.
Next to the bookstore stood a large tree rarely seen in modern urban planning—a “relic” left behind after an old shrine’s reconstruction.
During the scorching summer days, passersby would often rest in the tree’s shade.
One day, the afternoon sunlight fell lazily on the yellowing leaves.
“Is it dead?”
Under the tree’s shade, a girl in a white cotton dress was poking at a fallen insect that was fluttering its wings with a branch.
“It’s dead.”
The insect, turned over on its back, struggled helplessly with its legs in the air, like a fish that had jumped onto shore and couldn’t breathe. Soon it stopped moving altogether.
She tossed the branch aside, bored.
“Today was another fruitless day.”
Young Aki stared at the other end of the road.
“Maybe relying just on newspapers and TV is too difficult…?”
…
Just as little Aki was preparing to leave, a weak, faint male voice came from the other side of the large tree.
“Help me…”
The girl’s eyes widened in surprise as she quickly walked in that direction, finding a blood-covered man.
Seeing that she was just a young girl, he seemed to relax slightly and looked at her with pleading eyes.
“I… I’m being chased by some bad people… and I’m badly injured. Could you help me?”
Little Aki tilted her head, staring at the panting man leaning against the tree.
She didn’t ask questions, nor did she move.
She just watched silently.
The man’s expression became somewhat unnatural as he unconsciously rubbed his eyes. His fingers frantically rubbed as if trying to touch his eyeballs.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person…”
“You’re lying.”
His words were cut off halfway.
“…Eh?”
“Mister, you’re telling lies, aren’t you?”
The small girl smiled gently.
“You don’t look at all like someone who’s badly injured and has lost a lot of blood.”
“…”
“Come to think of it, Mister, you’re covered in blood but you’re not hurt… so that must be someone else’s blood, right?”
He gaped, unable to say anything.
“Mister, you killed someone, didn’t you?”
She took a small step closer.
“And it wasn’t long ago… the blood splattered on you hasn’t even dried yet.”
Little Aki looked down at the strange adult male.
“Hey, tell me.”
Just as children naturally possess an insatiable curiosity about the world—
“Killing others, taking another person’s life… what does it feel like?”
The little girl asked softly, showing an interested expression.
“If you answer properly, I’ll help you.”
For some reason, her sweet, clear voice sent chills down the man’s spine.
She was such a small child…
With his hands, he could easily grasp that delicate neck and, with just a bit of force, turn her into a cold corpse.
But the killer couldn’t do it.
His fingers were too stiff to move.
So he just remained silent, not speaking.
“You don’t want to tell me? Or perhaps you don’t even know? I thought someone like you, such trash, would surely be able to describe it for me…”
She let out a small sigh, showing a disappointed expression.
“What a useless person. And I waited here for several days…”
The girl muttered.
…Waited?
What did that mean?
Before the killer could understand, that small figure had already left.
—That brief encounter, like a sudden storm, lasted only five minutes.
*
January 21st, the weather had been getting warmer lately.
In the afternoon, the gentle sunlight and cool breeze fell on pedestrians, bringing a comfortable, tipsy feeling.
At a café on the shopping street, under a parasol at a round table sat a beautiful woman wearing a white haori coat, black over-knee stockings, and tall leather boots.
Though the woman possessed striking looks and presence that drew attention, she seemed completely unaware of people’s gazes. She was sipping hot coffee while intently studying the documents in her hand.
It was a medical diagnosis report.
“Eight years have passed, yet there’s been no evolution at all. Instead, he’s become an even more inferior creature than I imagined… This goes beyond just having an abnormal mind.”
Miyagi Aki’s fingers pinched the white paper.
The patient’s name written on it was “Otsuka Ken.”
In the final column of the diagnosis were labels such as “Dissociative Identity Disorder,” “Intermittent Psychosis,” and “Severe Violent Tendencies.”
Below were the diagnostician’s treatment recommendations.
“Due to the patient’s strong tendencies toward harming others and self-harm, we request the facility provide reliable isolation care.”
Rather than treating him as a patient, they were essentially treating him as a criminal—in fact, given the crimes Otsuka Ken had committed, he should have been sentenced to death.
However, while in custody, he was diagnosed with mental illness, and thus was transferred from prison to be housed in a local psychiatric hospital.
That was eight years ago, after his arrest by the police. Before that, his mental illness hadn’t manifested. In other words, Otsuka Ken’s mania and dissociative identity disorder hadn’t erupted, or rather had remained “dormant,” for a long time.
This wasn’t strange. Everyone carries pathogenic factors within them. The key is whether there’s a trigger to set them off, like pulling the pin from a bomb.
When this news was exposed by the media, it had sparked social debate.
Some believed that the police had used improper, violent methods during the arrest and interrogation, causing the suspect’s mental breakdown. Even for a vicious murderer, the police had no right to use torture; moreover, this actually helped Otsuka Ken escape imprisonment.
On the other hand, how should mentally ill people who committed serious crimes in the past be punished? This was a sensitive topic in any country.
The fact that Otsuka Ken had been able to escape from his care facility a few months ago was probably related to his being in a psychiatric hospital rather than a real prison.
Involuntarily, Miyagi Aki recalled her first encounter with the killer.
“I wonder if he remembers me? After all, it was just a brief meeting of a few minutes.”
She thought while looking at the photo in the medical record.