E-Excuse me!
I hate to trouble you when you're busy, but...
Could you read my fortune?
In particular, about romance?
Will my love be realized?
Your love...
will never be realized.
Fukada Ryuusuke
Let me introduce your new classmate,
Fukada Ryuusuke-kun.
Fukada-kun used to live here in town,
so some of you might remember him.
Hey, do you remember me?
I went to kindergarten with you!
Wait, are you Midori-chan?
Yeah!
You actually remembered!
Ryuusuke-kun, let me introduce you to my best friend.
This is Tanaka Suzue-san from Class B.
It's nice to meet you.
Likewise.
The girls in our class were all talking about you, Ryuusuke-san.
They think you're cute.
But none of them think they have a chance because of Midori-san.
Come on, Suzue-chan, what are you saying?
Y'know, Ryuusuke-san,
Midori-chan is really popular with the boys at our school.
She's the target of all the guys' affections!
Or maybe more like the target of their fortunes?
Guys practically clog the streets
trying to get their compatibility with her read. Right, Midori-chan?
Jeez, cut it out before Ryuusuke-kun starts taking you seriously.
Besides, it's not like crossroads fortune-telling could ever be real.
That stuff's a waste of time.
Oh, I wouldn't say that.
Do you really think some random passerby would have any kind of special insight?
True enough, but still...
What do you think, Ryuusuke-san?
You know about crossroads fortune-telling, right?
You shouldn't mess with that stuff.
On a day like this,
I bet tons of people stand on crossroads at dusk, wanting their fortune told.
And I bet every one of them asks something like this:
"Will my love be realized?"
I heard a first-year girl died yesterday.
She was in the middle of an intersection, her neck sliced open by a box cutter...
It was practically an ocean of blood.
Why would she kill herself?
I don't know.
There was no note, and the fog was so thick, there were no witnesses.
Some people think she wanted a crossroads fortune, though.
How would they know?
There was apparently a case just like this, seven or eight years ago.
A girl who was trying to get her fortune told at the crossroads committed suicide.
Really?
That's scary.
How did I end up back in this town?
It must be punishment.
I'm being punished!
Little boy...
Little boy.
Little boy...
Please, could you come here?
Will you hear me out?
And then tell me...
See, there's someone I love right now.
I love him very much.
But he has a wife, and a child.
But you see,
another one of his babies is inside me, too.
Do you understand?
I want to have his baby, too.
But he suddenly started acting cold, and says I should get rid of it.
Isn't that mean?
But I still like him...
I love him!
I'm in love with him!
Yes, I'm so deeply in love with him that I could die!
So, what should I do, little boy?
I don't get what you're saying!
What I'm asking, little boy, is...
Will my love with him be realized?
Or won't it?
Of course it won't, stupid!
But that night,
I got curious about that woman.
I wondered what had happened to her.
So I went to the same spot the next day.
I was the one who killed her.
It's my fault she and her unborn baby are...
Ryuusuke-kun?
What's wrong?
You seem kind of down.
Midori-chan?
You've been acting weird lately.
Is something bothering you?
No, it's nothing.
If you say so...
Y'know...
I was wondering if you had
a bad experience with a crossroads fortune or something.
C'mon, you're overthinking this.
You're so weird.
I mean, I have bad memories tied to them myself.
You heard the girls talking about it in class, right?
About the woman who killed herself eight years ago...
That was actually my aunt.
It can't be...
This can't be!
Midori-chan!
Suzue-chan.
Walking home alone again?
Yeah.
What's wrong?
Are things going badly with Ryuusuke-san?
Actually, yeah...
I think he's been avoiding me lately...
And I have no idea why.
I can ask him for you.
There's bound to be a reason behind it.
Why are you avoiding Midori-chan?
Did she do something to upset you?
Ryuusuke-san?
I could never be upset with her.
But I don't deserve to like her!
Or even talk to her!
It's all my fault!
So I can't help it...
What are you talking about, Ryuusuke-san?
This isn't normal.
Tell me what's going on.
I'm sure I can help somehow!
What happened, Ryuusuke-san?
That's enough!
Don't ask me anything else!
She'll suffer less if we just let it end now.
But Midori-chan is worried about what's going on...
But... all right. I'll let it go.
Sorry for calling you out like this.
Goodbye.
Oh, I know.
U-Um... Excuse me!
I was hoping to get a crossroads fortune told.
Will you help me?
It's... about a friend of mine.
She's been troubled by how distant her boyfriend's been lately,
and he also seems to be troubled by something...
What do you think I should do to get them back together, like before?
You should be more worried about your own love life.
Hey, Suzue-chan.
Did Ryuusuke-kun say anything?
Yeah...
I asked him,
and he says he wants to break it off with you.
I see...
I tried getting a crossroads fortune about the two of you.
About whether or not you could get back together.
You did all that, Suzue-chan?
Yeah, I did.
I think I ran into the "crossroads pretty boy" that people talk about.
He was the first person to walk by at the intersection!
He was really tall,
wore all black,
and had a sharp look on his face...
He had this cold beauty that gave me the chills.
But more than that, more than anything,
what shook me the most is what he said...
It made me realize I was lying to myself.
That I was doing the opposite of what I really wanted.
I'm going to live more honestly from now on.
So, Midori-chan, I'm going to come out and tell you...
I like Ryuusuke-san!
Ever since he transferred in.
I'm sorry, Midori-chan,
but I love Ryuusuke-san.
So much I could die!
So I'm actually really lucky the two of you are splitting up!
Goodbye.
I'm gonna go tell Ryuusuke-san how I feel!
Tanaka Suzue has started aggressively pursuing me.
But my attempts to gently turn her down didn't seem to work.
If anything, she started to act even more bizarrely.
Here's your lunch.
Can you cut this out already?
If you keep following me around, I'm gonna call the police!
But... you needed lunch today...
I have lunch!
Then eat mine instead!
I'll get rid of the one in your bag!
What are you doing?! Stop it!
Would you just stop already?!
I'm going to be blunt.
I don't like you!
I like Midori!
I have no place in my life for you!
So get lost!
No...
But what will become of my love?!
I don't care!
But I did just as the crossroads fortune said...
The pretty boy who showed up at the crossroads
told me to worry about my own love life,
so I did just that.
And yet... And yet...
My love isn't going to be realized?
I love you, Ryuusuke-san.
I love you! So much I could die!
I heard there was another suicide at an intersection.
That makes four...
Apparently she was having her fortune told.
And I heard she ran into the crossroads pretty boy, too.
Maybe he's the angel of death.
The pretty boy of the crossroads...
The angel of death...
Yeah.
Speaking of,
there's someone pretty grim with her eyes on you, too.
Suzue-chan, I went too far this morning.
It's not that I dislike you.
But I just can't forget about Midori-chan...
So I can't go out with someone else.
I should have told you why I was avoiding Midori back when you asked.
Eight years ago,
when I first lived in this town...
On that day...
Suzue-chan!
The pretty boy of the crossroads...
I can't just sit here and do nothing.
I have to find him...
And the first step is to tell someone at the crossroads their fortune.
I'll give people who want their fortunes read some hope.
I'll do the opposite of what he's doing.
Maybe that's the only way I can counteract what he's doing.
I did everything I could to respond to people sincerely.
It may have been
because of the guilt I still felt about driving that woman to suicide, eight years ago.
But eventually...
Oh, hey, do you want your fortune told?
What... happened to you?
Excuse me... will my love... be realized?
I-It will!
I'm sure it will!
This can't be...
But there's no doubt...
These are the girls who killed themselves at the crossroads!
And the proof of that...
I love you!
I love you so much I could die!
But I couldn't let myself stop telling fortunes.
Ryuusuke-kun?
Midori-chan?
Are you going to walk around town again today?
I know you walk around to help people trying to get their fortunes told at crossroads.
Almost as if you're possessed.
Could you tell me why?
Why go so far?
I...
I can't stop until I catch the crossroads pretty boy.
No!
Ryuusuke-kun, don't go!
Ryuusuke-kun!
That's him!
Hold it!
Stop!
Damn it!
I lost him!
I wonder where I am...
This is...
It's the intersection from eight years ago!
I ended up here somehow!
You're...
I...
Ryuusuke-kun?
Ryuusuke-kun!
It's no use...
I can't tell where I am at all.
That's...
the crossroads pretty boy!
No, I...
I'm not here to get my fortune told!
I'm not.
I'm not...
I'm not!
Ryuusuke-kun?
What are you doing here?
Someone pointed me in this direction.
What are you doing here?
I saw him!
I saw the crossroads pretty boy!
What?!
Look!
But the crossroads pretty boy was nowhere to be found,
and the fog that had been so thick
vanished in the blink of an eye.
Collection No. 080
The Crossroads Pretty Boy The Lovesick Dead
My friend Yuuko was famous for being chatty,
but lately she barely says a thing.
Even when she does talk...
Wehl...
Ladely I haff trouble tawking.
Yuuko, are you sure you're not sick or something?
Buh I don' feel sick at awl...
And now,
she's stopped coming to class.
Slug Girl
Collection No. 066
Maybe she's out?
Huh?
We keep killing them, but they keep oozing up!
It's because there's been no sunlight and it's so humid lately.
Give me some of that salt, will you?
Oh, Rie-chan!
It's been so long.
Hello.
You're here to check up on Yuuko, right?
She's in her room.
Yuuko, Rie-chan's here to see you!
Yuuko?
Yuuko...
Is something wrong inside your mouth?
Juh leeb me alohn!
Yuuko...
What's wrong, Yuuko?
Yuuko?!
Pleeh hehlp meh!
I guess we have no choice...
What'll we do, dear?
Let's fill the bathtub with salt and put Yuuko in it.
Salt
There.
That should do it. Now, Yuuko, get in.
I know you can do it.
You've got to open your mouth wide once you get in, okay?
Dear, I know we need to do this, but hasn't she been in too long?
Yuuko? You all right?
Oh, no!
I think she's fainted in there!
Wait, these are just Yuuko's pajamas!
Where'd she go?!
Yuuko?!
Where are you, Yuuko?!
What's this?
Where did her body go?!
Dear, look!
There's a tiny body at the base of her neck!
The salt made her shrink!
Apparently, it still lives in their garden.
Like a snail, carrying a shell around...
But apparently it's slimy in a way that's unique to slugs.
And they say whenever anyone gets close,
the shell will stare in their direction,
with a sad look in its eyes.
Collection