"ARGH!!!"
Outside the station, Wakana stomps the ground in frustration. Minami Sei halts in his footsteps when he watches her lose her temper. He has never seen her like this before. He's surely interested to see more.
"Why me?" She exhales tiredly. "Oh, that phantom artist is making my head hurt. I want to be normal."
Losing a job is already enough for a problem. She has a r@pist entity who has told her that she would be his next victim. What the hell!
A little voice whispers in her head, 'Look at the positive side! You already know who the real culprit is. You can save yourself from becoming his next target.'
'You are likely to fail and...' The insane one laughs in her mind.' Say goodbye to your pleasure bud.'
She shudders and looks below. Her clitoris. She hasn't even experienced the pleasure that it has to offer. She never had sex. She never had a boyfriend. She has been too busy pretending to be normal. Besides, who would go out with her? No sane man will go out with someone who is like her.
Sane Wakana: 'Calm down! The phantom artist hasn't escaped yet.'
Insane Wakana: 'Sure, stay calm until he escapes.'
Sane Wakana: 'You have time to think about it. He probably can't escape.'
Insane Wakana: 'He will escape someday. You will get to experience some pleasure before you become a clit-less woman.'
She holds her head and talks to the sane's voice in her mind. "I don't want to get r@ped. I don't want to become a clit-less woman."
"What are you talking about?" Minami Sei smacks the back of her head. Is that why she's afraid of going to the apartment? "Why do you think that you will get r@ped? The phantom artist stopped 18 years ago."
Her face turns grim. "What do you know? He might start again."
"Why would he start again?" He asks her curiously. "And why would he come for you? Speak logically."
"Uh..." Because he warned her. DAMN IT! "Are you driving to the last victim's place?"
"Yes." Minami Sei shows her the address. "She's living at this place for 18 years."
Wakana sighs and gets into his car. She doesn't even have her own car yet. How can she afford to get kicked out of her only job that pays for her food? She might not stay on the street, but her little pride will get tremendously bruised if she has to live with her sisters at this age. They have their own lives too. She doesn't want to be a burden.
She wants to work until she saves enough money to start her own coffee shop in T city. She doesn't have a lot of skills. Coffee won't give her nightmares. It's a good place to hang out. It's not like people can spend a lot of time in the coffee shop. It's definitely better than visiting the crime sites or becoming the phantom artist's next target.
Seeing her hyperventilating with big round eyes fixed on the road, Minami Sei snaps at her. "Can you stop freaking out? You are the police. You should not be losing calm like this."
She looks at him. The way she looks at him gives him the creeps. "Minami Kun, do you believe in the ghosts?"
Where did that come from? "No, I don't."
She leans closer to the window. "Thought so."
"Do you believe in them, Wakana?"
Her silence answers him.
Were those rumors true? Minami Sei frowns deeply. Fourteen years ago, when he came to the village for the first time to live with his only living relative after his parents' death, he heard about a peculiar girl who could interact with the dead. She was his classmate. He always thought that she was a little attention seeker. Then, he heard her carefree speech regarding her career choice.
His speech wasn't any better. He became a detective because he hated the sight of blood. The sight of blood reminded him of that night. He didn't want it to become his weakness. Also, he wanted to stop crimes from happening. He wanted to give justice to the victims since he was also a victim once. If his partner didn't do that, he wouldn't go to the basement.
She always looked carefree when she was in school. Her classmates avoided her including him. He didn't believe in the ominous rumors about her, but she was a strange person. He always found her watching him. He also watched her back when she's not watching until they parted. She didn't approach him again until he caught her placing snacks in his desk.
Did she have to mention his parents' death and say that it was someone else who killed them? If he hadn't seen it, he might have given her the benefits of doubts. He also wanted to believe once that his father wouldn't do such a thing.
His father killed his mother and committed suicide right in front of him.
That's a reality from his past that tortures him in his dreams every night.
Feeling like someone has ripped open his wounds again, he breathes sharply in pain. He doesn't like this girl who makes fun of other's wounds by making up stories. She's doing it again with this case. Someone like her isn't right to become a detective.
"You are not right for this job." He tells her with a chilling voice, "Someone like you isn't suitable. You don't have the mental strength or seriousness to handle the cases. You still make up fake stories and talk about ghosts. It is not right for the victims. Don't say such things to the person we are meeting."