Chapter Eleven: Fever Again?

"Uda-kun... is there something on my face?"

Kayako felt extremely uncomfortable under Udo Kaya’s unblinking stare. Subconsciously, she recalled the way those who bullied her would fix their eyes on her with that same intensity. Thinking of this, she lowered her gaze, feeling a pang of sadness, and dared not look at him again.

"No, I just thought it was interesting that our names sound somewhat similar."

Upon hearing Udo Kaya speak, Kayako let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Y-yes, that’s right..."

As long as—as long as he wasn't like those other people, who hated her the moment they heard her name, it would be fine.

"It’s not good for you to keep sleeping out here. Once you have some strength, I’ll take you to the guest room."

"Mm... thank you..."

Udo Kaya looked at the timid, evasive Kayako before him. To be honest, he found it difficult to reconcile this beautiful girl with the irrational, murderous Kayako from *Ju-On*.

After exchanging a few simple words, Udo Kaya went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. In the living room, Kayako lay on the sofa, listening to the sound of water from the kitchen. A sense of security, long-lost and deeply comforting, bloomed in her heart. From her angle, she could just see the back of Udo Kaya as he cleaned. She watched him, and slowly, her gaze became dazed and infatuated.

Especially when she recalled the accidental touch of his hand against her chest earlier, her mind began to wander. Her legs, tucked under the blanket, shifted restlessly in sync with her thoughts, and her eyes grew hazy.

While Kayako was lost in her fantasies, Udo Kaya, in the kitchen, was pondering how to handle the current situation. Kayako Kawamata was one of the most ferocious evil spirits in Japan; in a sense, she was the childhood nightmare of an entire generation. Unlike ordinary spirits, Kayako played by no rules, having long ago shattered the "hiding under the blanket makes you safe" trope. She possessed, among other things, physical immunity, infinite resurrection, infinite duplication, shapeshifting, spacetime manipulation, mental attacks, electronic control, and the ability to spread malice.

In the released film adaptations, her abilities had been watered down through countless versions. In the original source, she was an entity defined by terror for the sake of terror. She was an absolute ceiling-level malevolent spirit, powerful beyond any reason. In one version, the "bug" of her lacking area-of-effect attacks—a point of long-standing criticism—was fixed, instantly elevating her strength to rival the Heavenly Dao of that universe. The point was that she didn't follow the rules of karma; once she set her sights on you, she would finish you off, no matter who you were. If he remembered correctly, Shunsuke Kobayashi was killed by her—and Shunsuke was the only man she had ever loved.

Recalling everything about Kayako, Udo Kaya felt a headache coming on. But that wasn't the most troubling part. What truly made him feel irritated and anxious was that he also had Tomie by his side! Tomie’s ability was immortality—a practically unsolvable immortality. Udo Kaya didn't even dare to imagine what kind of nightmare this world would become if this pair had a strange chemical reaction. It would probably be enough for the Earth to just die on the spot!

***

After washing the dishes in a daze, he returned to the living room to find Kayako, who had pulled the blanket up to cover her mouth, watching him without blinking.

"Is your fever back?"

"....No."

Her barely audible reply, paired with her shifty eyes, led Udo Kaya to guess that this girl was likely fantasizing about dating him. He didn't know that Kayako was thinking much deeper and more specifically, to the point where she had almost soiled his pajamas.

"You have some strength now, right?"

"Mm..."

"Then I’ll take you to—"

"Wait a moment longer..."

"?"

Udo Kaya didn't know why Kayako asked him to wait, but he could only sit across from her and wait patiently. However, he soon noticed that her eyes looked off; rather than looking at him, she seemed to be in a trance.

"Kayako? Kayako?"

"Mm~ Oh? I, I'm fine!"

Udo Kaya was baffled by her sudden fluster. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"N-no, nothing. Please, Kaya-kun, lead the way."

"Ah? Sure..."

Udo Kaya could never have dreamed that he would one day be used as "material" by someone, and right to his face, no less. He stood up and walked ahead, glancing back at Kayako, who was blushing and keeping her head low.

"Here we are. This is the guest room. I’ve already laid out the bedding. Just get some rest for the night."

"Mm... thank you, Kaya-kun~"

Udo Kaya nodded and was about to move aside to return to his own room when Kayako suddenly called out to him.

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"Kaya-kun... is it okay if I call you that from now on..."

Seeing Kayako, who looked incredibly nervous with her fingers tightly entwined, Udo Kaya sighed internally. "Fine. Go get some rest."

"Mm~! Goodnight, Kaya-kun~"

Though he didn't know why a simple honorific could make her so happy, Udo Kaya could only attribute it to her awkward personality, shaped by the environment she grew up in. Back in his own room, he closed the door and clutched his head in frustration.

***

"What's wrong, Kaya?"

Little Tomie looked at Udo Kaya’s conflicted expression and stepped over the blanket to his side, concerned. Udo Kaya looked up at her, sighed after a moment, and said, "It's nothing. Go to sleep."

"Is it really nothing?"

Udo Kaya nodded, then offered a forced smile. He picked up little Tomie and sat on the edge of the bed, beginning to stroke her hair to soothe her to sleep, as he always did.

In the dead of night, when all was silent, Tomie felt someone by her bed. She opened her eyes, groggy, and saw a shadow crouched by the wall—a shadow that had entered her room at some unknown hour. She instinctively wanted to scream.

"It's me..."

"Udo Kaya, are you out of your—!"

Tomie, suppressing her voice, was about to scold him when she realized his tone was off—it sounded exceptionally low. It was a tone she had only heard once before, back in the Yamazaki alleyway. Thinking of this, she threw off the covers and sat on her knees beside him.

"What's wrong?"

Udo Kaya didn't speak, only looking at Tomie’s bewitching face through the light of the streetlamp outside. Truth be told, he didn't understand why he had come to her room like a madman. Tomie watched his vacant expression, feeling a surge of anxiety.

"What is it? Say something. Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see you. Go back to sleep, I'll go now..."

"Come back!"

Before Udo Kaya could stand, Tomie whispered a sharp command.

"....Sorry, I'm having an episode. I didn't mean—"

Before he could finish, a seductive, intoxicating fragrance filled his nostrils, and a soft sensation pressed against his face. Tomie held him tightly, refusing to let go for even an instant.

"Hold me."

"...Okay."

At her request, Udo Kaya wrapped his arms around her waist. Outside, the sound of insects chirped in the night. In the darkness, Tomie wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him down to the floor as they pressed against each other's hearts.