Mayonaka no X Giten 9

Midnight Cross Method 9

p1: ===================================
[insert]: The mysterious suspect elegantly reads!
Midnight Cross Method #09: A Kind Man

Story / Yamaguchi Mikoto
Art / BAREISHO

p2: ===================================
By all means, use all the wisdom and power at your disposal
to find me, X.

Oh, and please don’t even think of accidentally following me.
It is rare for a game to intrigue me so. Were you to ruin it, I would simply have to destroy this body and discard it.

p3: ===================================
[sfx]: Slam!

[sfx]: Heh…

[insert]: Ahahaha / hahaha…
[sfx]: Bathump!
?!
/ H-Hey! What’s wrong? This isn’t a laughing matter!

Then what look should I have on my face?
…

p4: ===================================
Today, in a span of so few hours, I’ve learned that I was not my family’s killer,
that the true culprit is some being who used my sister’s body,
and that a member of my family did something to my sister.

…All that information, in the span of a single conversation…
/ What can I do but laugh?

Please, laugh with me. Laugh at this fool who said he loved his family,
/ even though he knew nothing and was blind to everything around him…

p5: ===================================
There’s no way I could laugh!

Yes, something might’ve happened in your home that you weren’t aware of…
/ Some circumstances that truly made your sister, Ai, want to kill her family.
[sfx]: Clench

But you know… That doesn’t mean that the family who loved you
/ was nothing more than an illusion.

That loving family was killed by some incomprehensible being,
/ and, to top it all off, he kidnapped your precious sister…!
I can’t laugh at someone who’s had that happen to him!

p6: ===================================
Pft.
/ Ahahahahahahahaha!
Wh… What the hell? Stop laughing so much!
/ Did you hit your head when I swept your legs out from under you earlier?
[sfx]: Heart aflutter

[sfx]: Slowly
It’s just…

You’re such a surprisingly kind man…
[sfx]: Hug

If I were a girl, I don’t think I would be able to leave a boy like you alone…
/ Ahh… Come to think of it, right now, I am a woman.
Huh…?! What are you…

p7: ===================================
What are you two doing in other people’s bodies?!
[sfx]: Huff

Hey, Mikuni-kun. You’re a little early.
/ I was a hair’s breadth away from using your body to steal his lips… A pity, truly.
Wh… Wh-Wh-What are you saying?‼ Heck, right now, he’s Kaede, and…
/ …Wait—that’s not the problem here‼!

First things first: I’m glad you’re all right!
……

Hey, Hiroki, you…
[sfx]: Sigh…
“Hiroki”…? No honorific? That was sudden!

p8: ===================================
In the end, I guess you’ll act kind to just about anyone‼

Huh? Why are you mad…?
[sfx]: Hmph / Tap
Sometimes, kindness is a crime

Regardless!
/ I’ll ask for details later!
We’re heading back‼

O… Okay…

If we don’t, it won’t be long before Kaede loses it…
[sfx]: Twitch x2
[insert]: Hah… / Being in a boy’s body
[insert]: Is so disgusting…

p9: ===================================
Several days later
I see…

Did all that happen while I was asleep?
/ And Hiroki, nothing he said was a lie?
[sfx]: Flap

Yeah, it’s all true. I was reading Kirishima’s heart in your body the whole time he was talking, so…
[sfx]: Flap
Yes… Then, at any rate…

We know Kirishima Sachi wasn’t the one who murdered your sister…

p10: ===================================
So… For now, let’s try to make sense of the situation.

First, there’s the murder of the Kirishima Family.
/ The culprit, who calls himself “X,” is inside Ai’s body.
He committed the crime using her body.

After the crime, X remained in her body, telling the police the culprit was Sachi, pinning the blame on him.
[sfx]: Nod…

p11: ===================================
What do we know about X…
/ First, he doesn’t swap bodies with a person—he enters them alongside the original personality…

When I looked at him using Mikuni-kun’s ability to read minds,
/ I saw in there two personalities.
Basically, that means Ai and X’s souls were both in one flesh.

At the time, did you see any clues hinting as to who X is?
Unfortunately…

All I was able to see was a sliver of Ai’s consciousness…
/ It was like a clump of unequivocal hatred…

?‼

p12: ===================================
Then there’s X’s objective. According to him,
/ he enters the body of a participant in the Cross Act
and fulfills some desire
that the host cannot fulfill him- or herself.

I don’t want to picture Ai wanting our family dead…
but there might have been some sort of trigger.

After all, something went on in my home that I knew nothing about…

Come to think of it, when X said that he acts to fulfill his host’s ambitions…

you had a really strong reaction.

Would that mean… that you yourself wished for your sister’s death?

p13: ===================================
I want to tell you no… but I think I’d be lying…

There was a time when I dreamed of what life would be like without her…

p14: ===================================
But I—!
/ I never seriously wanted my sister dead…
/ Wh…

What…?
[insert]: Yep, yep
[insert]: Yes, yes.

We understand, Hiroki. We know you’re not the kind of guy who would seriously consider that!
[sfx]: Pat
That’s right, Hiroki. We know full well that you’re a hopelessly kind man.

p15: ===================================
Wait a second. Did you just call him “Hiroki”?

[sfx]: Grin
Yep, that’s right. I called him by name.

Aren’t you acting a little too familiar?
Don’t get full of yourself just ‘cause you’ve cleared yourself from suspicion!

What’s the big deal? He and I have already gone out together… right? ♡
Are you trying to create a misunderstanding?!

That’s right, Mikuni. Weren’t you and I coupled like that?
WAAHHHH!
WAAAAHH‼
[sfx]: St-st-st-st—!

It’s always like this. All I want is to become close with everyone, but everyone always rejects me…
[insert]: The nurse, the lawyer, they all went running away…
?
Damn… He’s a complete airhead‼
[sfx]: Streaming sweat
He hasn’t been acting on purpose this whole time?

p16: ===================================
Let’s get this conversation back on track…

There’s two things we’ve figured out so far.

First: it’s highly probable that the murderer of Hiroki’s sister is X.
/ In other words, It’s highly probable that X participated in the same Cross Act all of us did.
[picture] {
[upper right box]: Kamiya Hiroki
[middle box]: Mikuriya Mikuni
[upper left box]: Kirishima Sachi
[far left box]: Five unknowns One of them is X?
[four inner pictures on the right side]: Unknown
[inner picture on the left]: Unknown / Adult / Male / Patient?

The second thing
/ is that, to make everything clear…

p17: ===================================
I have to participate in the Midnight Cross Method.

So then… How much do you two actually know about the Midnight Cross Method?
/ Have you ever participated, even once?

I’ve never participated.
/ All I know is that it’s a masquerade ball that only those who have swapped bodies are allowed to attend.
/ …That’s all.

What about you, Kirishima?
Don’t be so distant. Call me Sachi.
[insert]: Aren’t we friends?
What a nuisance… So… Sachi, how about you?

p18: ===================================
I, too,
/ have never participated…

However, I do know…
/ when…
and where…
/ it will be held next.

Really…?
Wait a second.
/ I’ve been thinking—why do you know so much when you’re stuck inside these walls?

And it’s weird how you have one of the ritual cards.
/ And when we first met, you instantly realized we had switched bodies…

Didn’t I tell you before?
I have myself an accomplice.

p19: ===================================
That person appeared soon after I was taken into custody here.
[sfx]: Flip
[insert in the picture]: Card

Oh.
/ By the way, in picture form, the person is like this.

?‼
[sfx]: Spittake!

That person told me that the Cross Act was the cause of my incident…
At first, of course, I didn’t believe in body switching.
/ Then, some days later, the person gave me this card, saying, “You’ll understand if you do it yourself.”

And then, I actually exchanged bodies.
/ So, for the time being, I decided to trust what the person had to say.

Afterwards, the person went on to tell me many more things,
/ such as Cross Acts and Cross Abilities.
/ It was almost like a prediction saying that people switching bodies would come to visit me.
Just… who was this person?

p20: ===================================
The person claimed…
/ to be the first person to swap bodies…

…If true, that means that person thought up the idea, right?
The person never said it in exactly those words…
/ But I got the distinct impression that the person was the trigger for one series of body switches.

And so the person said to me, “I must save those who were brought misfortune by body switching;
/ I must sever this chain of tragedy!”
[sfx]: Bam!
Thanks to your picture, it’s hard to feel the proper mood.

p21: ===================================
Has the “accomplice” of yours told you anything about the Midnight Cross Method?
About that…

I know the time, date, and place where it’s next being held, but…
/ Actually going would incur fairly heavy risks.
Because X will surely be there, yeah.

There is that, of course… But no.
/ The problem is more fundamental.
X said that the Cross Method is something like a masquerade ball.

Do you have any idea what one does at a masquerade ball?

It is where participants amuse themselves for a night by covering their faces in mask, temporarily discarding their status, and becoming someone they are not.
/ And how is it that they “amuse” themselves?
To be blunt…

p22: ===================================
They have sex.

p23: ===================================
For instance… A man can become a woman
/ and enjoy the ultimate stimulation that only a woman can know;
a woman can become a man
and experience the maddening desire and release that only a man can possess…

In other words,
the Midnight Cross Method is a party where one can experience pleasure in another person’s body
/ that one never could in one’s own.

p24: ===================================
Can two people as green as you two succeed in such a place?

E… Even so, I’m going to participate‼

N… No!
/ It’s not because I want to have sex, got it?!
[sfx]: Stare…

Yes… I thought you would say that.
/ To be honest, I wish I could meet with my “accomplice” one more time and ask for some words of advice…
but there is no way to know when next that person will come.

And there’s no more time to wait.
There isn’t…?

p25: ===================================
The next Midnight Cross Method will be taking place at midnight two days hence.

I can’t imagine that the party is always held at the same place,
/ and there’s no guarantee my accomplice will ever return here.

And I only know the place where the party is being held two days from now.

We have… to make a decision.

p26: ===================================
I’m obviously participating!
I’m going too, of course‼

H... Hey, wait a second. Weren’t you listening?
/ It’s gonna be pretty dangerous there! There’s no way I can take you there!
[insert]: Mm

You idiot! Were you listening yourself?
Only those who have switched bodies can participate.

That means the only way you can participate is by swapping bodies with me!
……!

p27: ===================================
So in other words, that means you’re using my body…
/ You sure you can keep it safe?
Because I think I can trust you to keep it safe,
/ Hiroki.

…Of course…
/ I won’t let anyone lay one finger on your body.
[sfx]: Nod

Oh, you two lovebirds are so wonderful!
[sfx]: Twitch!
But unfortunately…

p28: ===================================
Mikuni-kun cannot participate.
?
[sfx]: Squeak
Oh—it would be more accurate to say that Mikuni-kun’s soul will have to watch the home.

Participating in the Cross Method will be Hiroki…
[sfx]: Tap

and me.

Why’s that?!
It’s the only way. I’m the only one who knows where it’s taking place.
Furthermore, the place doesn’t have a proper address, so telling you its location would be trying.
[sfx]: Stand!

Just draw us a map‼
You think you can make me draw a picture?!
Don’t take that out! That’s dirty‼
[sfx]: Show!

p29: ===================================
And personally, I have a major goal here: recovering my sister’s body.
There’s no way I’m sitting this out.

Then I’ll have Kaede lend you her bod—
You should probably stop with that.
/ In the best of times, going there in a woman’s body is a dangerous act…

If you involved your friend’s body and worst came to worst—if something dangerous happened—could anyone besides Hiroki keep it safe?
………

There are only two choices.
[sfx]: Squeak

p30: ===================================
The first is to have me enter Hiroki’s body, Hiroki enter Mikuni-kun’s,
/ and then for Mikuni-kun to enter mine…
[top box]: Participating in the Midnight Cross Method
[bottom box]: Staying Home

The second if for me to enter Mikuni-kun’s body, Mikuni-kun to enter Hiroki’s,
/ and for Hiroki to enter mine.
[top box]: Participating in the Midnight Cross Method
[bottom box]: Staying Home

Those are the only two.
/ Well, there is also the option to wait until next time.

As our helper, Mikuni-kun, you should decide.
Mmnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…

p31: ===================================
Two days later,
/ on the day of the Midnight Cross Method

Hey, hey… They’re really doing it here?
Precisely.

But you were certainly right—this place doesn’t have an address.
Right?

It’s about time. Shall we?
Yes… We’re supposed to be lovers…
/ R… Right. Let’s go…
[sfx]: Slowly

p32: ===================================
To the Midnight Cross Method
[insert]: Now, to the party where X awaits!