Monsters Meeting

As the day wore on, the search intensified. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department continued their efforts, but the lack of concrete leads was beginning to frustrate them.

Officer Nakamura called for a strategy meeting, hoping to regroup and brainstorm new approaches.

Inside the conference room, the air was thick with tension. Nakamura stood at the head of the table, reviewing the progress reports.

"We've searched all his known haunts and questioned his associates, but we're still coming up empty. It's possible he's gone underground, or someone's hiding him."

Officer Oyakata had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Maybe... But what if we are the ones doing something wrong? Because, we didn't do any mistake in the meantime, did we?" He sighed disappointed at how the case was going.

"Oyakata-san, This man is a serial killer - highly dangerous, unpredictable, and sadistic. We cannot afford any mistakes." Nakamura explained.

Officer Tanaka, sitting at the edge of his seat, chimed in. "He's shown no remorse for his actions. The psychological profile indicates he's likely to strike again, especially if he feels cornered or threatened."

Nakamura nodded. "Exactly. We need to assume he's armed and dangerous. Everyone out there needs to be on high alert. No more half measures."

Another officer flipped through his notes. "We've got a list of his previous victims and their connections. If he's following any kind of pattern, we might be able to anticipate his next move."

"Good," Nakamura said, his tone sharp. "But remember, he's cunning. He might change his pattern just to throw us off. We need to think like him - chaotic. Try to predict his next step, but also stay ready for anything."

The room was silent for a moment, the gravity of the situation sinking in. Then, Nakamura continued,
"We need to bring in even more specialists that we did - criminal psychologists, profilers, everyone who will be highly dedicated to get rid of him. I want every piece of information we can get on Miyahara's mindset. What drives him, what his triggers are, what he might do next."

Suddenly, officer Oyakata, spoke up again. "What about his digital footprint?

"He doesn't have any bank account or credit card," Tanaka replid him, shaking his head. "But that doesn't mean he isn't using some other form of communication or relying on someone else's resources. We need to dig deeper. If he's contacting anyone, using any device, we need to find it."

Officer Nakamura chimed in, "If he's gone off the grid, he's either completely isolated or using someone else's help. Maybe he's reached out to someone we haven't identified yet - a friend, a distant relative, or even a stranger willing to shelter him."

Another officer nodded. "I agree. And I think I've known someone who could do such thing..." He added.

Nakamura raised an eyebrow. "You do? Who's that?"

The officer – Detective Hirose – adjusted his glasses, flipping through a folder.

"While reviewing old case files related to Miyahara's school record in Kyoto, I came across a report filed after... the incident with the teacher. There were statements from several students, but one name stood out to me — Ryota Goro."

He slid a thin document across the table.

"He lived in a smaller town west of Kyoto and commuted every day. Miyahara used to bully him at first, but according to the statements, they later made peace. It was a strange dynamic — Ryota-san even tried to defend Miyahara when things went south. Said he was 'just misunderstood' or something like that."

Tanaka frowned. "So, you're saying he might be the type to help Miyahara now?"

"Possibly. He's one of the few people Miyahara had a real connection with back then, no matter how twisted it was. What struck me was how emotionally Ryota described him — not like a friend, but like someone he couldn't fully figure out, yet still pitied."

Nakamura tapped his fingers against the table. "Where is Ryota now?"

Hirose checked his tablet. "Tokyo. Moved here after university. Works in a mid-sized corporation in Minato. Easy to track down."

Nakamura stood up.

"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Bring him in for questioning. Discreetly. I want to see his face the moment he hears Miyahara's name."

***

During these past days, Hideaki took many attempts of taking Seiji's life at random times, even though he physically was weaker than him.

It was another day that Seiji spend with his serial killer roommate who seemed to always have an ulterior killing motive to Seiji.

Right now, Seiji was in his room and felt uneasy as he saw Hideaki peeking at him through the crack in the bedroom door.

'He's stalking me all the time with his creepy smile... Just like he's observing my every move. This is creepy as hell... Knowing him, he's planning various ways of how to attack me from surprise and kill me. Good thing is, that he won't make it. He's stubborn, but also physically fragile.'

But even despite that, soon Hideaki's constant, intense stare became too much for him to bear.

He went to door, opening them slightly more and gazed at Hideaki from up, sighing tirelessly.

"Can't you just stop? It's beyond creepy when you're looking at me all the time."

"Ehehehe! But I'm not doing anything!!" Hideaki grinned widely, trying to look innocent.

"Yeah sure, and I'm an astronaut. Cut the crap, Hideaki. Whatever you're up to, it's not working."

"Tch!" Hideaki hissed in frustration, and in an instant, he opened the doors widely with an intent of lunging at Seiji with a wide grin and arms outstretched, as if ready to choke him. "DIE!!" He yelled, but at the last moment, Seiji blocked him with the door making Hideaki hit his nose straight onto the door.

"Seriously? You're going to try this again?" Seiji said clearly tired "You know, the whole psycho routine is getting old. Try harder next time." he added and closed the door with a loud creack.

"FUCK!!!" Hideaki cursed loudly upon massaging his hurt nose and not making his attack work out.

Inside, Seiji tried to ignore Hideaki and focus on his task, (segregating small plants and surface grounds of the terrarium) but the feeling stayed.

Suddenly, someone rang a bell on the door.

Hearing this, Seiji fastly ran out of his bedroom, leaving what he was doing alone.

Hideaki in the meantime, quickly hid himself behind the doors to not be noticed.

A courier stood before the entrance, carrying large square packages. Seiji carefully took the ordered items. They were pretty heavy, so he had to use his muscles to safely carry them through the apartment area to his room.
It wasn't easy but he managed to do it.

Hideaki followed him, but in a way that Seiji didn't notice him. He peeked through a small crack into the door again to see what his victim has ordered...

"Ah, finally... Been waiting for these." Seiji said happily.

He began to unpack the mysterious boxes.

Hideaki was curious about the whole thing. He carefully opened the doors wider, trying to keep the move being unheard to see what was going on... He didn't want to be exposed so easily...

Suddenly he saw that the boxes were all glass with a strange door on one side.

'What is this..?'  he thought.

"Finally, my new terrariums are here." Seiji said with a smile on his face.

'Terrarium..? What is he going to have there?'  Hideaki wondered.

At this question, Seiji opened a smaller plastic container through which something dark was visible...

"Your new home arrived!" Seiji said kindly to the creature.

Hideaki even though observing, he didn't see clearly, what was in the much smaller box at first...
To have a better view, he decided to discreetly open the door wing wider.

As he opened it, from his direction was heard a loud creak, that broke down his cover.

The killer looked like he knew... he fucked up...
"Tch!" he hissed, 'FUCK! I shouldn't push these door so strongly, Damnit...'

Seiji noticed him

Seeing that his great plan on observing his victim has failed, Hideaki stood up and rapidly cleared his throat, to not get any suspicious...

"Uuh.. I d-didn't spy on you t-this time! I w-was coming near your room.. and uh.. saw that you're doing s-something... and got.. curious... What is here?" he asked.

Seiji sighed 'He's so bad at lying...'
"Hideaki, if you're going to spy, at least try not to be terrible at it."

"Tch!" The killer hissed again. "Fuck off! B-besides.. What the hell are you holding in these??"

"My tarantulas." Seiji replied, opening the smaller container to show the spider.

At that moment, the hairy tarantula made a little moves in the box.

Hideaki jumped aside in horror "T-Tarantulas???"

Seiji laughed "Don't be afraid, they won't hurt you." He said, then added, "Could you hold it for me for a moment? I want to finish decorating the terrarium." saying this, he handed Hideaki the little plastic box with the hairy brown spider.

Hideaki felt his heart start beating faster, sweat trickling down his body and his hands shaking like crazy with every second he felt spider's little toes...

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Even though, Hideaki Miyahara is a serial killer, he still have some fears, like every other human...

Some say that he is fearless, since he isn't afraid of blood, gore and doing harmful stuff to people...

But the truth is, that Arachnophobia is one of his greatest fears...

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He didn't know if he was able to hold out for a few more minutes before Seiji finished refilling the terrarium.

His hands were trembling every time he felt that the tarantula started to make a movement in the container. Even the most gently motion made him more and more apprehensive.

He tried to calm down, but as soon as he managed to do it, phobia and panic were taking him over in a moment,
"S-Seiji... is it d-done???"

"Just a moment..." Seiji gazed at trembled Hideaki. "Don't worry, it's not going to jump out and kill you. It's a tarantula, not you."

The longer Seiji waited, the more Hideaki began to shake in horror. He was afraid that the spider would open the lid of the box completely, and jump on him.

Moments later, Seiji took his pet from his roommate's hands.

As soon as the box went out of his touch, Hideaki sighed with relief. The tension that grew massively in him, went to gradually cool down... Until...

Seiji opened the box with the spider again, this time trying to chase it in. Hideaki, seeing the spider free, almost squealed with fear and quickly moved to the far corner of the room, foolishly thinking the spider wouldn't reach him there.

After a while, Seiji finished putting one of his pets into the terrarium "Phew... It went quicker as I thought... I hope that this little guy here will be kind enough as well."

Saying this, he took out another smaller container from the desk drawer.

Seeing another little behemoth, Hideaki started to shake again from growing tense and anxiety "H-how many of those little monsters you have there huh!?!?!?" Hideaki asked in fear.

"Just this one." Seiji pointed to his other tarantula. "I used to have more, but I got over it."

He scanned the terrarium, then added in an emotionless tone,

"I was thinking of going back to it. Just for fun, before I die. A little tropical variety to finish."

He shrugged slightly. "As you can see, it worked. But I won't go overboard with the numbers this time."

Seiji looked at the frightened Hideaki. 'He looks terrified, but maybe he will be more at ease, if he's going to watch tarantulas up close. He will see that they are harmless.' Seiji thought and then spoke,

"Actually... since you're here, I can show you one of my tarantulas in person." Seiji looked at the terrarium, "Once I'm done with setting them up, you'll only be able to see them through glass, so... here's your chance."

He took the tarantula out of the box and placed it on his own hand.

The tarantula was small in size, had a vibrant colors on it's abdomen and moved easily and quickly.

Hideaki was terrified to death. A such a one on one meeting with a scary looking spider surpassed him in every way.

Sweat was running on his forehead as his heart started to beat faster.

Panic rose in him drastically.

He began to breathe quickly as he imagined a spider jumping and starting to walk rapidly on him.

'Stop! Don't come close to me with this thing!!! STOP!!! STOP IT!!!!!'  he yelled in his head, unable to make any sound from his paralyzed by fear mouth.

Seiji was almost at his side when noticed Hideaki's drastically shaking body with a paralyzed look on face and quickened breath.

Hideaki on the other side, couldn't take it anymore.

'It is closer! It is closer! It's closerclosercloserclosercloseeeeer!!!!!!!'

He screamed panickly in his mind and with hardly gasping an air he screamed

"S-STOP IIIT!!!"

And in one second he quickly ran out of the room in panic, locking himself in the bathroom. There, he reached the top of the toilet and held onto it tightly while shaking uncontrollably.

Seiji was surprised by Hideaki's reaction. He carefully returned the tarantula to its container, ensuring that there were no harmful hairs on him. As he was about to go check on Hideaki, he suddenly felt itching on his hands.
'Damn, she left some of her hair from stress...'

Afterward, he headed towards the bathroom door and gave it a knock "Hideaki, open the door. I don't have the tarantula with me anymore."

"NO!" Hideaki screamed loudly, his voice beginning to crack.

Seiji tried again, but this time a little bit more challenging.

"Really? You're going to hide in there? Over a spider? Because of your yelling she let out lot of stinging hair o my hand. I need to get it off and..." he paused, 'His yelling... To come to look at it, he did look roughly terrified when I was approaching him with tarantula on my hand.'

Seiji sighed inwardly.

'Looks like our serial killer is a big Arachnophobe... heh.'

"Look, I didn't know you were that afraid. But if you could just open the door, I need to wash my hands. The last thing I need is to deal with the digging stinging hair into my skin."

"NO! F-Fuck you! I wish I had stinging hairs like those tarantulas... I would shower you whole with them, you idiot!!! NOW LEAVE ME THE F-FUCK ALONE!!!" Hideaki yelled back.

He didn't trust Seiji, nor he did want to get close to him.

Even if Seiji said that he no longer had spiders with him, Hideaki was trembling inside.

'W-what if he hidden that spiders being his back, and when I'll open the door they will jump on me and- and-'

Hideaki gulped from just imagining how it would be. He shook all over.

"Hideaki, open." Seiji said that again.

"No-no!!" Hideaki replied.
Suddenly he took a trembling voice, "B-besides, how do I know that you d-didn't make it up for me, to open the d-door and you... l-let a spider inside so it will j-jump on me and... and-" he couldn't endure the tense anymore... Just thinking about it again made him tear up a bit.

'He really is exaggerating all this, but it looks like he really is that scared. Damnit...'
Seiji felt both tired of negotiating with his frightened roommate, but also a bit guilty. He tried a different approach this time:

"Look... I didn't know that you are so afraid of them... And to be honest, you're not the only one who was feared back then. This little spider that you're so afraid of, was stressed as well. So, you're not actually alone in this."

Silence

'Well, I was hoping it will help get him some courage to open the door... Guess I was wrong.' Seiji thought.

Meanwhile, Hideaki was struggling to compose himself, his nose running from the tears he couldn't hold back. He remained perched on the toilet, attempting to suppress his emotions but ultimately unable to do so.

He was too scared to believe Seiji,

Seiji let out a tired sigh. "Hideaki..." he muttered, his patience wearing thin. 'All right... At most, I'll wash my hands in the kitchen sink...' he thought, resigned.

Before going back to his room, Seiji added "I'll tell you when I'm done with the spiders. Then you will be able to leave without fear."

Seiji went back to his room and finished what he had started.

Dealing with his second spider wasn't as quick as with his first.

The spider was too recalcitrant to kindly go to his new home as Seiji would want it to go...

"You're one stubborn little creature... Reminds me of a certain pesky gremlin I know," Seiji smirked, clearly referring to Hideaki.

After a longer while, he finally completed it.

"Phew!" he breathed from the work he performed "Finally it's done."

The terrariums were put on the top of shelf above his desk.

Meanwhile, Hideaki was still in the bathroom, trying to calm down.

[About 20 minutes passed]

Hideaki cautiously made his way down from his temporary shelter.

He walked towards the door. Even though Seiji had told him earlier that he had finished the job, the killer couldn't bring himself to come out of his hiding place.

When he approached the door, he hesitated whether to open it or wait a little longer.

Suddenly, he smelled a delicious aroma from the kitchen....

'He must made some good food...'  he thought to himself as he turned the lock to open the doors.

He wanted to check what was made for dinner, but still he had a remaining image of the scary spiders in his head...

Peering cautiously into Seiji's room, he checked to make sure everything was locked up tight and those pesky spiders wouldn't come crawling out of their terrariums.

Seeing the two tarantulas again, kindly resting in their new homes, Hideaki swallowed his saliva in fear. 'It looks like.. they are locked..'

Not wanting to have a close meeting with those monsters, he decided to get out of there as fast as possible. He went to the kitchen.

There he saw Seiji, who was watching some anime in TV. On the kitchen counter were remains of Yakisoba.

Seiji noticed Hideaki "Oh... You came out of the bathroom. At last.."

Hideaki didn't answer.

He took his portion of food and made his way to the dining table, trying to put his frustrations aside, but as he took his seat, he couldn't help but think again about the terrible pets of his would-be victim being nearby him...

He hugged himself lightly to compress the scary thoughts that were formed inside him.

Seiji looked at Hideaki.

He noticed that he was sitting hunched up in the chair, staring nervously at one spot and gritting his teeth.

He sighed quietly, then decided to break the silence.

"Hideaki, look... I shouldn't have scared you like that. And I should have reacted differently. I wanted to show you my pets but... It turned out the exactly opposite." He frowned slightly. "Now it seems pretty stupid to me. So... sorry."

"M-mhm.." Hideaki replied. It was more of a mumbling than an actual response.

Seiji walked over to him and lightly punched him in the shoulder, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Tch!" Hideaki hissed, gritting his teeth from tension.

"Come on, stop sulking. The spiders are locked up. They're not plotting your demise." Seiji said.

"I hope..." Hideaki replied, still feeling a bit uncertain if the tarantulas suddenly won't open the terrarium doors by themselves.

'God, he's so hopeless...'  Seiji sighed and stepped back a bit.

He stood up straight, spreading his arms to the sides

"Come on. Come here and punch me, if it makes you feel better. Just be as brutal as you like, okay?"

Hideaki cautiously raised his head.
"Punch..?" he was making sure that he heard good.

"Yes. Come on. Today I allow you."

The killer got up from the table and cautiously approached Seiji.

'I hate him...'

He grumbled in his mind and stopped in front of Seiji.

He took a deep breath, feeling anger raising in him,

'I hate him! I hate these spiders! I hate that he bring them here! He's such a cretin! He's such a...'

In one moment, started pounding Seiji with his small fist, yelling at him,

"Idiot! dick! cretin! I will fucking kill you! You made me feel so scared!!! I will kill you and your spiders along for all this!!! I HATE YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

"...Please don’t touch the spiders tho, they’re expensive." Seiji said while calmly took the punches.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Punch, punch punch and one more punch

---

After a little while, Hideaki stopped his brutal moves, breathing heavily.

Seiji exhaled sharply and brushed off his shirt from being tossed on from punches.
He turned to Hideaki who now looked famished.

"Feeling better now?" Seiji asked.

Hideaki lowered his hands, and nodded silently, with his head down.

"I hate you..." he murmured.

Then he went back to the dining table with grumbling something under his breath for one more time.

There, he began eating his now steaming Yakisoba.

Seiji exhaled slowly,

'What do I have with him...'

He thought.

---

[Interrogation Room – Evening]

A young man, Goro Ryota — about 24 years old, with short, neatly trimmed dark brown, almost black hair — sat nervously at the table in a fitted, clean jacket. Slightly hunched over, he wore large square glasses. His hands were sweaty, and his fingers, especially around the nails, were chewed raw — almost to the point of bleeding.

The door opened silently — Detective Nakamura entered the room.

Nakamura sat down across from him, throwing a brief, steely glance his way.

He cleared his throat and began sternly,
"Tell me, when was the last time you saw Miyahara?"

"I-I... I don't know," Goro replied quietly, avoiding eye contact. "It was a long time ago. He was weird, yeah, but not like that! Just... quiet."

"I know how quiet he was." Nakamura's tone turned icy, sharp as a blade.
"I've heard it from people who saw him — right before they lost their vocal cords."

Goro went pale. He swallowed hard and began rubbing his hands together anxiously.

Nakamura leaned forward slightly, voice still hard.
"Focus. Who liked him? Who stuck around him? Who might be hiding him?"

Goro stammered,
"N-no one liked him... not anyone normal. Sometimes we... t-talked. Because no one else would. At first, he b-bullied me, but later... he apologized. We kinda... got along. A bit. But he always had... something dark in his eyes."

"Do you have his number? Social media? Anything?"

Goro shook his head quickly.
"N-no. After high school... he disappeared. I went to university, and he just... vanished. I thought... maybe he changed."

"He did change," Nakamura said coldly.
"But not in the way you think."

---

[After the Interrogation – Operations Room]

The officers gathered again around the map. This time, they pinned a new marker: Nerima — the district where Goro Ryota worked.

"You think he might've contacted him?" Tanaka asked.

"Maybe," Nakamura frowned.
"Or maybe he's just watching him. Too many coincidences. Let's not underestimate old ties. Time for a new angle."

"Surveillance on Goro?" Tanaka clarified.

"Yes. Discreetly," Nakamura replied.
"If Miyahara contacts him, we cannot miss it."

---

[Sidewalk in Front of the Police Station – Late Evening]

Goro Ryota stepped out into the cool air and pulled his hood down. He took a deep breath, as if trying to shake off the weight of the interrogation — but it wouldn't leave his shoulders. He stood in silence for a moment, staring at the pavement.

People passed him by without a glance. He remained still.

'I haven't seen him in years... I thought after everything, he just... disappeared. That it was a coincidence. An accident.'

A memory pierced the darkness — a teacher lying on the ground, red spreading like ink, and Hideaki standing frozen, eyes wide in shock, like in a trance.

'They said it was out of control. That he couldn't manage his Blood Control Magic Ability. That he got problems...'
he thought grimly. 'Later, everyone just whispered, avoided him. I was the only idiot who didn't.'

He sighed deeply, shoved his hands into his pockets, and slowly started walking toward the subway.

'I didn't think he'd go this far... He got expelled... but no one told me that he later was sent to prison. Miyahara-san was strange. Withdrawn. But not a monster. Not someone who... kills.'

He stopped at a red light and glanced into the darkness between the buildings.

'But maybe... he just wasn't one yet.'