The Kingdom by Fuminori Nakamura

Author:Fuminori Nakamura
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Soho Press
Published: 2016-04-28T18:11:11+00:00

9.

The man behind me, reflected in the window, was wearing a plain coat. If he had been hiding in this room, where had he been? The skin on my head where that gun was pointed began to go numb. I couldn’t feel my legs, but somehow I kept standing.

“Why?” I whispered. Kizaki stood in front of me, laughing slightly.

“The bullets? They’re here.” Bullets tumbled from Kizaki’s hand to the table.

“But when . . .”

“There was time. When you were watching the show.”

My body was losing strength.

“Don’t tell me you were so engrossed you didn’t notice? I had one of my men search you. As for the bracelet, I figured I could find out what was in there later.”

“Too dangerous . . .” said the man behind me. “This woman is brave, but she’s no pro. If she were . . .”

“You can tell whether she’s a pro from looking at her.”

The room went cold.

“Well, shall I kill her?”

Kizaki leaned back on the sofa and sipped his drink. “The only problem is the body. Should we wrap it up?”

“Certainly. There are men waiting in the hall. All we need is five minutes to get her out of here.”

“You have three. Be quick about it.”

“Understood.” The man behind me took a quiet breath, as if to prepare himself.

“I love looking at people who know they are about to die,” Kizaki said. He was looking at me, his mouth twisted. “I don’t kill many people. Personally, that is. I prefer to watch them die like this. He’s killed many, though. How does it feel? How does it feel to kill someone?” Kizaki asked the man behind me.

“The first time I killed someone, I needed a woman after.”

“And now?”

“I just need a little alcohol.”

Kizaki laughed and took another sip of his drink. He moved his hand like he was signaling something.

“Wait.” I tried to gain control of my wild mind, and somehow, I got those words out. I couldn’t breathe properly. “But I still don’t understand why. I . . .”

“I like watching people who don’t know why they’re dying.”

I looked at him blankly.

“Why did this happen, they think,” he said. “How did I get dragged in like this? Why am I going to die? I like watching people die, trapped in that whirlpool of nonsensicalness.”

I wondered why I’d come here. It was bound to turn out like this. Why did I try to rush straight into the lair of someone who wanted to drag me down? If I hadn’t come, Yata would have killed me. But besides that, I felt the heat inside me, inviting me here. That heat was gone now. It would have been better if that heat kept burning like a fire inside me until the moment I died. But it vanished, as if its role was done. As if to betray me.

“But I’m in a good mood right now,” Kizaki said. “I’ll tell you a little bit. When I stop talking, you die.”

The lights of the buildings outside the window were being turned off one by one.

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