Poison Garden

Poison Garden

Daichi:

He is the youngest of the group. Hajime Daichi is almost thirty but still looks like he’s twenty-one. He was clearly the favorite in his family. Getting a good look at him, you can see why. Daichi was the perfect combination of beauty and brains. However, his mother and grandmother only focused on the beauty part of the equation.

That was not good enough for Daichi.

“I identify with Marylin Monroe the most,” he said days before Halloween. Osamu looked up at him.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Personality-wise,” Daichi said.

“That was kind of random,” Osamu said. The younger man clipped another bud in the flower bed in front of him.

“Monroe-san was both beautiful and smart,” he said. “She didn’t want to be seen as a dumb blonde.” Osamu narrowed his eyes through his goggles.

“Okay… Why are you telling me this?” he asked. Daichi shrugged.

“It’s been on my mind lately,” he said.

“Your mom say something to you?” his partner asked. Daichi shook his head.

“Chi did,” he said. The older man raised his eyebrow.

“What? What did she say?” he asked. Daichi frowned under his gas mask.

“That I have it easy,” he said. His mother and grandmother were strict with his sisters. But him? He didn’t have to do much. Because he was pretty he just had to be. But that wasn’t who Daichi was.

He loves numbers. The man had always loved them since he was a boy. Granted, his mother and grandmother were supportive of his career path. They did look a little disappointed at first. So he wasn’t going to be a model? Or an idol? Okay…

“Why do you even care?” Osamu asked. Daichi looked up at him.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he asked. “It’s always the same shit with them. It’s like I am just a pretty face to them.”

“Yes, yes,” he said. “You’ve told me this a hundred times now.” The older man quickly held up his hand.

“And don’t give me the exact number,” Osamu said. “I’m not in the mood right now.” Daichi threw down his cutters.

“Look, I get it,” he said. “Family sucks. Trust me, I know.”

“It’s not a contest.”

“Wasn’t trying to make it one.” Osamu put down his clippers.

“I’m just saying that I feel you. Family sucks.”

“Heh.” Daichi picked up his clippers and started on the buds again. Osamu got to work as well. The younger man clicked his teeth.

“I’m home,” Daichi said when he got home. Yuuko was already sitting on the couch waiting for him.

“Welcome home,” she said. The horseman noticed him frowning.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Daichi sighed and sat down next to her. She cocked her head to the side.

“Was it your family again?” she asked. Daichi nodded.

“Do you want me to kill them?” Yuuko asked.

“What? No!” he said. “Don’t do that!” She puffed up her cheeks and frowned.

“You never let me kill them!” she whined. Daichi patted her on the head.

“They are my family,” he said.

“But they make you unhappy,” Yuuko said. Her handler sighed.

“It’s complicated,” he said. The horseman frowned at him. He didn’t make any sense to her. Instead, she cocked her head to the side.

“How did you get that scar under your eye?” Yuuko asked. Daichi reached up and touched under his right eye. There was a faint thick line that stretched the whole length of his eyes. One couldn’t notice it so easily until they stared closely at his face. Oh, that. She wasn’t the only one who asked that. Kururi Orihara asked him the same question.

“I did that to myself,” Daichi said both times.

“Why?” Yuuko and Kururi asked. The man sat back and sighed.

-December 26h, 1999-

His mother and grandma sat on the floor in the kitchen, screaming. Daichi over them with a knife to his face.

“Baby, please!” his mother pleaded. “Don’t do this. Please! Put down the knife.” Daichi didn’t say anything. There was nothing in his eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore. They only talked about how pretty he was. It was one thing to hear how attractive he was from strangers. But hearing it from his family just hurt. That’s all they saw him as.

“You don’t have to do this!” his grandmother said. His mother held his youngest sister in her arms. Daichi shook his head. He was going to commit to this.

“Is this all I am to you?” he asked. “Is it? Is it?!” Daichi dug the tip of the knife underneath his right eye. It hurt but the pain pushed him to keep going. His mother and grandma screamed. Daichi craved a horizontal line from corner to corner under his right eye. Blood ran down from the cut. It looked like a nasty gash. His mother was crying. Daichi’s hands were shaking the whole time. He even feared that he would accidentally stab himself in the eye somehow. Still, he was going to commit to this.

There wasn’t really a plan for this. Daichi didn’t really lay in his bed thinking about how he was going to mutilate his face. It just came to him. He just wanted to stick it to his family that day. There’s a limit to how much a person could take.

Daichi took the knife from under his eye. He started to go in for another kill. His grandmother jumped to her feet and tackled him to the ground. She managed to get the knife out of his hand. His mother called 119.

“My son cut his face!” she shouted. “He cut his beautiful face!” Daichi’s grandmother pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding. He tried to push her off. The boy even tried to grab the knife.

The wound wasn’t that bad but Daichi did need to get stitches. Seven stitches to be exact. His mother kept him from school because of it. She made excuses to the school. Daichi came back to school when the stitches came out.

“The girls thought my scar was cool,” Daichi said. “I didn’t have to deal with bullies either. I mean, who’s going to mess with a guy who cut his own face to make his mother and grandma flip out?”

“I see,” Kururi said after he told her the story. Yuuko reached out and touched his scar.

“I like it,” she said.

“Ironically, it just made me that much more popular,” Daichi said. “Mom and grandma grew to love it. My sisters also think it’s cool.”

“And what do you think of it?” Yuuko asked. Her handler shrugged.

“I’m used to it by now,” he said. She rested her head on his shoulder.

How exactly did Daichi come to work with Kitano? It’s actually kind of a funny story.

Daichi didn’t know what he was doing at the time. He had just finished getting his bachelor’s. His family was proud on graduation day. Daichi thought about getting a teaching job but his mother ruined that.

“You’d make a hot teacher,” she said. It took his all not to gag. Why did she have to say that? It became motive to be known for his brains and not just his pretty face. There were plenty of jobs for that. Ideally, he wanted to move out. From there, he didn’t have any other plans. Having a master’s looked appealing.

That’s when Kitano came into the picture.

Daichi wasn’t sure why the older man was interested in him. Why did he want to pay for his grad schooling? What did he get out of this? They met at a college fair in Ikebukuro. Kitano was a guest speaker at the time. Daichi had to get out of the house. At the time, he was still looking for work. Maybe it was time to leave the country? However, Daichi wouldn’t have to go too far.

The lecture was at three o’clock. Daichi hadn’t intended on staying that long. He just wanted to look around, get some information, and go home. Daichi was about to head out of the door when one of the event organizers stopped him.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” she shouted as she ran after him. Daichi turned around at the door. The organizer caught up to him.

“Are you going to stay for the lecture?” she asked. Daichi cocked his head to the side.

“Lecture?” he asked.

“Yes,” the organizer said. “It’s a psychiatrist Kitano-sensei. They asked him to speak at the event today.” Daichi looked confused. Why would shrink speaking at a college fair? Guess they would take anything these days.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time,” Daichi said. He tried to go out the doors but the organizers held his wrist.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Stay for this lecture, please?” she begged. “He’s really good. You won’t regret it!” The man gave her a strange look.

“Why?” Daichi asked.

“Please?” the organizer asked. “You won’t regret it.” He saw the desperate look in her eyes. Why was she trying to get him to stay for this lecture so badly? What did she have to gain?

Daichi ended up saying yes.

He sat near the back. Close to the door in case he wanted to slip out. The room filled up quickly. Daichi walked as everyone walked into the room. People were all young or old as they took their seats. The man tuned out all of the chatter. Daichi didn’t plan on staying long. Just a few minutes and he would slip out.

Well, Kitano gave the lecture. Daichi didn’t remember what the lecture was about. He didn’t stay too long. The man slipped out in the middle of the lecture. There wasn’t much to stick around for. But Daichi didn’t go home yet. He just figured that he could stop somewhere for a quick lunch. He stopped at a McDonald’s and ordered a burger and fries.

It was then fate changed.

What were the odds that Kitano would walk into the same McDonald’s? No way, right? This had to be something out of a manga or a sitcom. Well, it did happen.

“Excuse me,” someone said to Daichi at his table. The younger man looked up. Kitano stood, staring at him.

“Can I help you?” Daichi asked.

“Is this seat taken?” the therapist asked. The younger man raised his eyebrow.

“Why?” he asked.

“I just want to talk,” Kitano said. Daichi stared at him for a moment. He finally shrugged.

“Sure,” he said.

“Thank you,” the therapist said, bowing. He sat down in front of Daichi. The younger man still kept his eyes on him.

“You were the one giving that lecture,” he said. “What are you doing here? Aside from the obvious, of course.”

“Well, the obvious,” Kitano said. “And I want to talk to you.”

“Oh?” Daichi asked. The therapist reached into his bag and pulled out a folder. He opened it and pulled out a file.

“Hajime Daichi,” Kitano said. “Freshly graduated from Todai with a double bachelor’s in mathematics and psychology. Graduated with honors.” He looked up at Daichi.

“You have quite an impressive record here,” the older man said.

“Excuse me, but what is your point?” Daichi asked. Kitano put down the file.

“Are you by any chance looking to go into grad school?” he asked. The younger man cocked his head to the side.

“Why do you ask?” he asked. “What do you want from me?”

“Heh,” the therapist said. “You’re quite forward, aren’t you? I like that. Fine, I will tell you.” Kitano closed up the folder.

“I am looking for brilliant minds for a game that I am playing with my group,” he said.

“What kind of game?” Daichi asked. Kitano sat back with an air of confidence.

“A game to start the apocalypse,” he said. Daichi looked just as confused.

“What?” he asked.

“I am going to get myself something to eat and when I come back, I will go into more detail,” Kitano said. “I’ll be right back. Excuse me.” The psychiatrist got up and bowed. Daichi watched as he walked up to the counter. He could’ve gotten up and walked away. That’s what any sane person would do. But the way Kitano put it had Daichi’s attention hooked. He just had to see where this was going.