Yokohama-sen Doppelgänger 2

Doppelganger 2



p67: =========================================
Eleven years have passed
since the ghastly incident that left four dead.
[newspaper]: {
[box]: The Yokohama Line Sculptor Murders
[not-box]: Suspect Kenzaki arrested
}

[box]: 2014
The murderer, sculptor Kenzaki Makoto,
continued to insist the charges were false.
2: Speaking to Myself

His execution was carried out, his life brought to an end.
Yet, through some trick of fate,

when he opened his eyes, Kenzaki found he had regressed in time to before when the incident occurred.
He decided to find the true culprit and exact his revenge.
[box, right]: July 4th, 2003 / The Yokohama Line Sculptor Murders take place
[box, left]: June 6th, 2014 / Execution carried out / Present Day

p68: =========================================
And the person he chose to be his accomplice was…
I’m you from eleven years in the future!

…Huh?
[sfx]: Clang

What?!

p69: =========================================
2. Speaking to Myself

p70: =========================================
BWUHHHH??
NO, NO.

I’m scared! What’s with this guy?!
Calm down.
/ My face,
/ my voice,
they’re ours!

What’re you saying? Shit!
Excuse me?
Somebody, help!
In here
This guy,
he’s crazy!

p71: =========================================
Look closely!
/ We’re a sculptor. We’ve learned how to look at a person’s skeletal structure.
Even if someone’s clothes, or hair, or build changes, we can see through it due to his skeletal structure.
/ And this is our skeletal structure.

Aieeeeee!

[sfx]: Slap x2
[insert]: Don’t touch me!
Also, we…

We have a thing for Natsuki Hikari-san.
We haven’t told anyone, not even her.
/ It’s a secret only we know.

You know it’s true:
Both of us are Kenzaki Makoto.

p72: =========================================
Waaahhh!
[sfx]: Pow!

[insert]: Huff x2
I—
/ I’ve gotten well-known.

Some weird people have stopped by, but…

You’ve even gotten surgery to modify your face.
[insert]: Wah!
Furthermore, you remodeled your whole body from the bones…
/ Use that money and toil on something else~~!
Where’d you find out all that information about me?

p73: =========================================
No.
I’m not some overzealous fan—
Wah!
/ Wah!! Stay back! <small: You deviant! >

…This isn’t working.
/ I could keep talking for hours, and yet…
Isn’t there some way to make him believe?
[insert]: Maybe DNA testing? / No; I can’t afford the time, and I don’t want it to become a big deal.
[sfx]: Pacing

Crap.
…Huh?
That’s…

p74: =========================================
[off-panel insert]: Yeah.
…I just sort’ve did it while I was waiting.
[insert, in bubble]: This isn’t the time to talk about that!
[insert, in bubble]: When we see clay, we can’t help but want to create.

[sfx]: Rustle

…I—
/ I’m still at the conceptual stage,
[sfx]: Flip
[insert]: Here.
And I haven’t shown anyone,

So how did you make the form
I had thought up?

p75: =========================================
Furthermore,
/ your perception,

your rhythm,

the volume…

Those aren’t things you can imitate…
/ This…
Is my sculpting…

It can’t be.
[small]: Y—
[main part of the bubble]: You’re truly…

p76: =========================================
me, Kenzaki Makoto?

…Hey.
/ What happens when I eat raw liver?
Gastroenteritis.

And if I climb Mt. Fuji?
Altitude sickness.

And when I’m stressed?
Shingles.

p77: =========================================
W—W—Waahh! SERIOUSLY?!!!

AWESOME!!
/ You’re me!!
/ Wee-hee!!
[sfx]: Wah!

I thought about this so much when I was a kid. If there were two of me,
/ we’d be the best friends ever!
[insert]: We’re in the world of sci-fi!
I mean, there’s no way we wouldn’t get along!
[sfx]: Ha ha

[insert]: Yay! / C’mon, / high five!
Starting today,
/ we’ll take turns. One of us works,
/ and the other lies around in bed all day.
But why two of us?!
/ Oh, are you a doppelganger?

Me from eleven years in the future~
/ Haha!
Hah….

p78: =========================================
I look so sloppy…

Yet you look somewhat haggard,
/ and you have a dangerous look in your eyes.
/ Did our personality darken, too?
That’s not the future chapter I envisioned…
Not now that I’ve finally gotten on-track as a sculptor.

[bg text]: Sculptor Makoto / Students
Everything’s smooth sailing, so why would I become like you?

…Well,
it began on that day, eleven years ago…

p79: =========================================
Or here, should I say it will begin a month from today?
[calendar]: 2003 / June / 10th / Tuesday
On that day…

Eleven years ago, on July 10th, 2003,
Continuing with the news…
Like always, I was creating here, in our workshop.

In the thicket around the Yokohama Line,
/ a passerby found a body believed to be that of Kinugawa Keiji-san.
[bottom]: Kinugawa Keiji-san (24)
The cause of death was suffocation; it is believed he was the victim of murder…

K…
/ Kinugawa…?

[sfx]: Rinnnng

Hello?

…No.
/ I won’t be going to Kinugawa’s funeral.
…He and I were…
/ Heck,

p80: =========================================
I’ve already cut my ties
/ with the four members of our art school exhibition group.

I don’t think Kinugawa would want me there himself.
/ Not after all that happened.

He hated me.
/ But still, murdered?
/ The poor guy…

Two days later.
[sfx]: Crash!

p81: =========================================
[upper-right corner]: News
[box]: Another murder?!
[lower right]: Kooriyama Rei-san (26)

In the woods near the Yokohama Line
/ was found a body believed to be that of Kooriyama Rei-san.

The cause of death and method used were the same as with Kinugawa Keiji-san, leading investigators to believe the same person murdered both…

[sfx]: Rustle

…Kooriyama-san…?

Several days later…

p82: =========================================
Another body has been found near the Yokohama Line.
Natsuki Hikari-san was found dead, her body buried underground.
[right side]: Found at
[upper left]: Again, near the Yokohama Line
[bottom]: Natsuki Hikari-san (21)

The event is being investigated as a serial murder case…
[sfx]: Shake

[insert]: N—
…Natsuki Hikari-san…
[sfx]: Heartbeat

[sfx]: Heartbeat

p83: =========================================
[tv]: News / Where the body was found
…It’s not far from here by car.

[sfx]: Dash!

[sfx]: Crunch x2
[insert]: So this is where her body was buried.

[sfx]: Slump!
You all right?!

I can’t…
/ Why Natsuki-san?
[bag]: Plaster
How could this happen…?

p84: =========================================
[insert, top]: And a few days after that
[upper left]: Found
[bottom]: Hiyo Yuujuu-san (23)
Found in the depths of the river near the Yokohama Line
/ was a body believed to be that of Hiyo Yuujuu-san…

[insert]: E—
…Even Hiyo-kun…?

All four were murdered using the same methodology.
[sfx]: Trembling
What the heck is…?
All four were active sculptures, a connection making this seem like the work of a single serial killer.
/ They’ve been named the Yokohama Line Sculptor Murders…

p85: =========================================
[sfx]: Streak
Kinugawa.

[sfx]: Streak!
Kooriyama-san.

[sfx]: Streak
Natsuki-san.

[sfx]: Streak
Hiyo-kun.

*Huff*
*Huff*
[sfx]: Trembling
Ev—
/ Everyone in the picture, from the group, is being killed one by one…

And the only one of us left is…

[far right]: Are they
[far left]: gonna kill me, too?
[inner bubbles]: *Huff* / *Huff*
[sfx]: Shivering

p86: =========================================
[sfx]: Rain

Plaster was found in the mouths and stomachs of each of the victims.
Furthermore, there were bruises on their arms and legs.

This tells us the victims were bound
while plaster was poured onto their faces, causing their suffocation.
[sfx]: Pour…

Man,
/ that’s awful.

p87: =========================================
Once the victims had breathed their last,
the culprit removed the harden plaster from their faces and took the object from the scene.
This is one deranged individual.

And no evidence has yet been found as to the culprit, correct?

And then, on August 1st, 2003.
[sfx]: Ding-dong!
At 6:03 p.m.

[sfx]: Ding-dong.

Wh—
/ Who’s there?

The culprit…?

[sfx]: Creak

[sfx]: Bathump x2
Hah…
Hah.
[sfx]: Click…

p88: =========================================
Kenzaki Makoto, right?
Yer under arrest as a suspect in the Yokohama Line Sculptor Murders.
[sfx]: Crack!

[sign]: Investigation Room 1

The name’s Danki.
I’m the one in charge of this here investigation.

There ain’t been one case given to me what I ain’t solved. So say yer prayers.

p89: =========================================
I didn’t do anything.

Really?
/ In that case,
[sfx]: Crack
ya happen t’have a motive?

The victims, all’ve them done gone to the same art school you did.
But then y’all got into a spat, and didn’t ya get driven t’drop out?
/ People what knew you been sayin’ you’ve been holdin’ a mighty big grudge ‘gainst them ever since.

B—
But I didn’t hate them enough to kill them…!
[insert]: Besides, I never bore any ill will towards Natsuki-san.

Fact o’ the matter is, ya didn’t think mighty well o’ them.
/ So.
/ Ya got yerself an alibi?

I was holed up in my workshop, crafting.
/ …Alone.

Now that ain’t gonna work.
If there ain’t no one what can verify yer word, that ain’t much of an alibi.

p90: =========================================
Didn’t ya buy up all that plaster ‘fore the incidents ‘cause you were plannin’ on killin’ ‘em with it?

No!
/ I needed the plaster in order to create my sculptures.
So yer sayin’ ya did buy it.

We got ourselves a truckful o’ people willin’ to say ya were loiterin’ in your car ‘round the places we found the bodies.
You done bought that car ‘fore the incident, too.
/ Did ya use it to carry ‘round the bodies?
It’s to carry my sculptures! And I was taking drives to get a change of pace.

Excuse me, Detective Danki…
[sfx]: Whisper
……

…Kenzaki, you don’t let no one
/ just walk in or out o’ yer place, right?

No one can enter.
/ The door’s locked…
[sfx]: And I’m the only one who knows where the spare key is.

…And you done said you ain’t never met with any o’ the four victims
/ since ya quit art school, is that right?
[sfx]: Crack

p91: =========================================
Yes, not even once.
And you’ve been rentin’ out that workshop fer a good year?
That’s right.

[insert]: *Sigh*

In that case,
/ explain t’ me why I was just done told that, in YER workshop,
/ THERE’S HAIRS BELONGIN’ T’ ALL FOUR O’ THEM VICTIMS?!

That… That can’t be.
They’ve never been inside my workshop.

p92: =========================================
QUIT PLAYIN’ DUMB!
Ya punk!

[sfx]: Slam!
Everyone from yer school, from yer group, all o’ them’s been killed.
/ Yer the only survivor.
That’s ‘cause you killed ‘em, right?!!!

Now.
/ How ‘bout you’s confess,
/ Kenzaki.
[sfx]: Creak

p93: =========================================
Besides the hair, in your workshop,
/ we found fragments from the plaster pulled off o’ t’ victims’ faces.

We even done found the masks that plaster was used t’ make.
[insert]: We dunno whether t’ call ‘em “life masks” or “death masks.”

…
I’ve never
made a mask.
[sign]: Investigation Room 1
Someone must have put in in my workshop!

…I—
I’m not lying.
I’ve never lied…

p94: =========================================
No conclusive material evidence was found to say I killed them.
However, there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence, so they soon named me…
the culprit.

[tv]: Yokohama Lien Sculptor Murders / Arrested / Suspect Kenzaki Makoto (21)
[below tv]: All I could think of was that I’d been set up by the true culprit.

[below that]: Society’s reaction was fierce.
[upper left of that]: Fear!! / Crazed Methodology
[left of that]: Drama “The Language of Art Students” suspended, emergency meeting called!! / Resumption unknown, second season cancelled. / Plug pulled on movie
[above that]: Serial Murderer Kenzaki’s family / go to hell!
[bubble left of there]: Since I had gotten somewhat famous after my sculptures were used in a popular drama, after I was arrested,
[bubble directly above that]: Interest in sculptures increased.

[newspaper between the last two bubbles]: The wonder of sculpture / In order to prevent Kenzaki’s influence from darkening the image of sculpting, we’re airing a special program
[topmost newspaper]: Fans seek the drama to resume airing
[left of that]: The one thing we want people to understand is that there are tons of diligent sculptors all over Japan.
[leftmost bubble]: Ironically, it led to a sculpting fad.
[newspaper below that]: We’re becoming like Rome: sculptures are being placed all over Japan

[first black bubble]: As for me,
[second black bubble]: after spending eleven years unable to prove my innocence,
[third black bubble]: I was executed.

p95: =========================================
That’s the future that awaits us.

…Hey.
Wait.
/ If you’re me…

Well,
/ even if I believe that…
you expect me to believe that tale of the future?

p96: =========================================
[insert]: I have varicose veins, so I sleep with my legs up.

[sfx]: Snore

Today was an unbelievable day.
When I thought everything was coming to an end,
everything began.

[insert]: No one here sees me as a murderer.
[middle insert]: They don’t attack me,
[left insert]: or arrest me.
[lower right]: Yokohama Line Sculptor Murders / Suspect Kenzaki
[above that]: The Methodology of Kenzaki, who Shook the Nation
[left of that]: Kenzaki Sentenced to Death / Maintains his Innocence
[below that]: The Sculptor who Murdered Four People
[left of that]: Serial Murderer Kenzaki Makoto

[sfx]: Click

[container]: Yakiniku Lunch / 450 Yen
[can]: Banana Soda

p97: =========================================
I’m taking it easy, just for today.
I’m eating my favorite foods,
not the meager prison fare.

And I’m taking a relaxing bath.
I have all the time in the world.

……

…Hah.

[sfx]: Drip / Drop

Such little things, and yet…
Heh heh heh heh.

Things have been so hard for so long.
I was mentally cornered, couldn’t sleep,
I kept thinking, I just wanted it all to end.

When was last time I went to bed
this calm?

p98: =========================================
[sfx]: Twitter

Ah!

[insert]: You finally awake?
Where are you going?!
/ You…

Err, umm, what am I supposed to call you?
[insert]: And you put on my clothes without asking.

p99: =========================================
Good question. Things are complicated,
so I’ll be Kenzaki,

while we’ll call you Makoto.

[sfx]: Clickity-clack

So then,
/ Kenzaki…
[sign]: Flower Art University

What’d you come to our art school for?
[sfx]: Trembling
[insert]: It’s been, what, two years since I dropped out? / This brings back memories
[insert]: Idiot.
Stay hidden. We don’t want any witnesses to come forward once the incidents start.
[sfx]: Shiver x2
We just came to check.
/ Oh, there!

p100: =========================================
Natsuki Hikari-san!!

p101: =========================================
[small]: Wow [/small]: She’s as cute as ever.
And a little more mature!
/ Right?

!

…She’s alive.
Still alive…

…You’d cry in front of someone else? This obstinate version of me is better off dead…
[insert]: Though that “someone else” is me…
That story about the future must really be…

Huh?

p102: =========================================
Makoto, why’re you crying, too?

Huh…?!
What?
/ Seriously?

W… We’re connected…
/ I can’t find the right words to say it,
But you really are me.

Makoto…
Kenzaki… I—

p103: =========================================
I don’t want to believe your story of the future.

But we don’t lie…
/ yet I can’t dispel my doubts.
/ I’m half-convinced.

It would be best for you, Makoto, if the incident never takes place,
but if it does, you’ll need me. I know the future.

I want to know who really did it, who laid the blame on us.
And I need your help to do it.

Working together is to our mutual benefit, right?
Together, maybe we can change the future!

p104-105: =========================================
Okay.
I’ll work with you.

*Rustle*

If someone actually is murdered,
I don’t want to be executed.
And besides, even if I hate someone, I’m not okay with them being killed.
[insert]: Though I do like Natsuki-san.

If I can prevent the incident, maybe I can save all four of their lives…

I don’t care if it robs me of my humanity.
I am going to bring the worst to the worst.

I—

p106: =========================================
will kill the culprit.

will save Natsuki-san.

[left side]: Doppelganger:
[right side, first bullet]: 1. A person who looks remarkably similar to yourself
[second bullet]: 2. The phenomenon where a double of a person exists.
[unbulleted line]: Anyone who sees his own doppelganger…

Will die.