web web

Flesh-Colored HorrorThe Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection Volume 3

Story and Art by Junji Ito

TranslationKanako Ishikawa

EditorDominic Mah

Production DesignerNicole Shi

Lettering FontsComiccraft

wwwcomicbookfontscom

PresidentRobin Kuo

Flesh-Colored Horror The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection Volume 3 copy 1997 Junji Ito

All rights reservedFirst volume published December 1997 in Japan by Asahi Sonorama

ISBN 4-257-90315-5

English translation copy 2000 ComicsOne Corp All rights reserved

PublisherComicsOne Corporation

47257 Fremont BlvdFremont CA 94538

wwwComicsOnecom

First Edition December 2000ISBN 1-588-99055-9

Flesh-Colored HorrorThe Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection Volume 3

Story and Art by Junji Ito

TranslationKanako Ishikawa

EditorDominic Mah

Production DesignerNicole Shi

Lettering FontsComiccraft

wwwcomicbookfontscom

PresidentRobin Kuo

Flesh-Colored Horror The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection Volume 3 copy 1997 Junji Ito

All rights reservedFirst volume published December 1997 in Japan by Asahi Sonorama

ISBN 4-257-90315-5

English translation copy 2000 ComicsOne Corp All rights reserved

PublisherComicsOne Corporation

47257 Fremont BlvdFremont CA 94538

wwwComicsOnecom

First Edition December 2000ISBN 1-588-99055-9

the Junji ItoHorror comicCollection 3

Asahi Sonorama

Contents

Long Hair in the Attic 5(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo November 1988)

APPROVAL 35(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1991)

Dying Young 99(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo SEPTEMBER 1991)

Beehive 67(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1991)

Headless Sculptures 131(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo July 1995)

Flesh-Colored Horror 163(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1994)

AMANO

Donrsquotcall me

anymore

Itrsquosover

We shouldnrsquotsee each

other anymore

Yoursquove beentrying too

hard

to be my typeThe hair style I

like the lipstick the wayyou dress the

prefume

I kindaliked it atfirst but

I didnrsquotexpect youto be that

serious

Itrsquosnotyourfault

A girl likeyou needssomeone

whorsquos moresincereChiemi

Irsquom not aseriousguy youknow

Good-time girlswould be

perfect for aguy like me I

guess

Goodbye

Irsquomhome

Oh Howwas your

day

Hi Eri

Therersquorerats in this

houseChiemi

Rightaboveyourroom

I see

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Contents

Long Hair in the Attic 5(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo November 1988)

APPROVAL 35(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1991)

Dying Young 99(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo SEPTEMBER 1991)

Beehive 67(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1991)

Headless Sculptures 131(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo July 1995)

Flesh-Colored Horror 163(ORIGINALLY appeared IN ldquoMonthlyMagazine Halloweenrdquo may 1994)

AMANO

Donrsquotcall me

anymore

Itrsquosover

We shouldnrsquotsee each

other anymore

Yoursquove beentrying too

hard

to be my typeThe hair style I

like the lipstick the wayyou dress the

prefume

I kindaliked it atfirst but

I didnrsquotexpect youto be that

serious

Itrsquosnotyourfault

A girl likeyou needssomeone

whorsquos moresincereChiemi

Irsquom not aseriousguy youknow

Good-time girlswould be

perfect for aguy like me I

guess

Goodbye

Irsquomhome

Oh Howwas your

day

Hi Eri

Therersquorerats in this

houseChiemi

Rightaboveyourroom

I see

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

AMANO

Donrsquotcall me

anymore

Itrsquosover

We shouldnrsquotsee each

other anymore

Yoursquove beentrying too

hard

to be my typeThe hair style I

like the lipstick the wayyou dress the

prefume

I kindaliked it atfirst but

I didnrsquotexpect youto be that

serious

Itrsquosnotyourfault

A girl likeyou needssomeone

whorsquos moresincereChiemi

Irsquom not aseriousguy youknow

Good-time girlswould be

perfect for aguy like me I

guess

Goodbye

Irsquomhome

Oh Howwas your

day

Hi Eri

Therersquorerats in this

houseChiemi

Rightaboveyourroom

I see

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

I kindaliked it atfirst but

I didnrsquotexpect youto be that

serious

Itrsquosnotyourfault

A girl likeyou needssomeone

whorsquos moresincereChiemi

Irsquom not aseriousguy youknow

Good-time girlswould be

perfect for aguy like me I

guess

Goodbye

Irsquomhome

Oh Howwas your

day

Hi Eri

Therersquorerats in this

houseChiemi

Rightaboveyourroom

I see

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Irsquomhome

Oh Howwas your

day

Hi Eri

Therersquorerats in this

houseChiemi

Rightaboveyourroom

I see

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Goodbye Hum

Ah

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Mustbe therats

There

Payrent

Thereyouare

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

I wasright

wasnrsquotI

Yeah

Tell dadthat weneed toset rattraps

We already didBut those rats

are prettysmart

Ohyeah

IsChiemihomeEri

Yes shersquosupstairsbut she

looked alittle

depressed

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Is thisyour first

time seeingthe ocean

Chiemi

YesThatrsquos

unusual

Nobodyever tookme to the

oceanbefore

Well fromnow on Irsquollbe the oneto take you

Chiemi

Yes

Why donrsquotyou grow

your hair

Growmy

hair

Do youlike long

hair

YeahLong

hair down to yourwaist

Do itYoursquolllookgood

He wasso

selfish

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Did shehave a spat

with herboyfriendor some-thing

ughugh

ahuhahuh

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

see youlaterdear

Have agoodtime

Huh

Chiemirsquosroom hasthe light

on

Shersquos upprettyearlytoday

Oh Iforgot toturn thelight off

gyaah

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Yuck

I canrsquot

believethis

Howcouldthis

happen

oh wellit reallydoesnrsquotmatternow

Irsquom sayingbye-bye to

my longhair today

Iknowfor

sure

thisrsquollmake me

feel muchbetter

Howsilly

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Are yousure

Chiemi

Doesnrsquot itmean a lot toyou Why doyou wanna

cut it

Shutup

anddo it

I donrsquotwant rats toget stuck in

my hair

Wherersquosthe

scissorsmom

ScissorsWhatfor

Chiemiwants me

to cuther hair

Guesssomethinghappened

AAIeeee

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

WhatrsquoswrongChiemi

Ack

neck Chiemirsquosneckis

What happened

Chiemirsquosneck isgonemom

YEEEE

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

What happened

Her neck gotchopped

off

Oh mygod

Whodidit

He tookoff with

theneck

Gocatchhim

Who gotkilled

Mr Amanohas

prettydaughters

Youmean

Chiemi

Damnwherersquos

the copsWhatrsquos

taking solong

The ratsThe rats

bitChemirsquosneck

Calmdown

Eri

Shegot

bit byrats

therersquosNo wayrats

could dothat

it had to be asharpknife or

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

MrsAmano

MrsAmano

Where thehell is Mr

amanoIsnrsquot heoff on

Sundays

He mustbe outplaying

golf

This isjust

awful

MrsAmanoAre you

OK

thepolice

arehere

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

RRRing

RRRRRing

HIRATSUKA

YesHiratsukaresidence

Gee canrsquotbelieve

someonersquos calling so

late

GICK

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

HelloWhorsquosthis

GICKGICKGICK

GICKGICKGICK

WhatWhorsquosthis

Ah-haItrsquos youisnrsquot itChiemi

Are youtrying toharass me

now

Howevil

GICkGICKGICK

KYUUHey

CLICK

Shit Itrsquosnot funny

at all

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Wait a

minute

I mustbe halfasleep

It canrsquotbe

Chiemi

Chiemidied a

week ago

Come to thinkof it now she

was reallypretty

Too bad

She nevershowed anyemotions

Especiallyto me

She wastrying sohard to

please me

Irsquom sure itwas

stressful

When I foundout about her

death I thoughtshe comitted

suicide at first

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Am Igettingold orwhat

Why did I thinkit wasChiemi

butthat

sound

itsounded

like

the noiseChiemi used to

make whenshe groundher teeth

RRRing RRRing

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

AMANO

Dad

HuhWhat isit Eri

Wherersquos the

flash-light

Hereit is

Whatrsquoreyou

gonnado with

it

I wannago check

theattic

Theattic

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

I donrsquot hearthe rats

lately maybetheyrsquore caught

by the rattraps

Ohyeah

Hold onEri

Irsquoll gocheck it

Donrsquotworry

about itdad

No Icanrsquot

let youdo it

Chiemi died onthe 2nd floor

I donrsquot wantyou to die like

she did

Irsquollbe

fine

Your hearthasnrsquot been

up to parever since

the incidentyou know

Donrsquotworryjustwait

there

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Wheredid I putthem

Whatrsquostaking

solong

Dad

Didyoufindtherats

Oh

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

DAD

DADWhat

happeneddad

Crsquomonanswer

me

Is he

dead

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Chiemi

Who didthis

Irsquoll getyou off

now

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Itrsquosstuck

Myhands

I Ineed

scissors

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

GISHHHGISHHH KYUUuu

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Chiemiwait

Yoursquorealive

Chiemi

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

Chiemi

No Only herhair isalive

The hairhas its

own willand

killedChiemi

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

Want tto ffind mmore MMangaVisit uus aat

wwwcomicsonecom

The hair wentsomewherewriggling

like a snake

as if ldquoheadedrdquotoward its

final destination

S

Stopit

Getaway

Long hair in the Attic End

It doesnrsquot matter how

many times youvisit me

I wonrsquotlet youmarryMisuzu

She alreadyhas

anotheroffer ofmarriage

HeySetsuo

You talkto him

Yes HeyKyosuke

You reallyshouldnrsquotmarry my

sister

I wish Ididnrsquot have to tell you

this butyou belongto a lower

class

Yoursquore notgonna beable to

makeMisuzuhappy

Pleaseleave

Hersquos rightI neverwant tosee your

face

Justget

lost

Father

I saidget

lost

I canrsquottake it

any-more

I didwhat Icould

Eloping isthe onlyway out

I know youdonrsquot have

that kind ofcourage

If you still think

you want toget yourfatherrsquos

consentitrsquos

over

Goodbye

bye

Yeahthisis it

Howmanytimesdid Ivisit

Misuzursquoshouse

I canrsquotbelieve Iwas thatpatient

OZAKIO

ZAKI

But not

anymore

I wonrsquotsee

Misuzu

Kyosuke

Kyosuke

What

Didnrsquotyou

hearme

Ohsorryaboutthat

Yuko

Herepleasetake

care ofthis

Whatrsquos upKyosuke You

lookdepressed

today

Eh nothingrsquos

wrong

HYDROCK

DENTIST

DENTIST

Yoursquovebeen so

quietlately

OZAKI

Everyonersquosworried

aboutyou

thingsnot goinggood withyour girl-

friendmaybe

Yes

I hateto tellyou thisbut as amatterof factI brokeup with

her

Oh godsorry Iasked I

didnrsquot meanto be nosy

Thatrsquosfine It

happened3 weeksago any-

way

Heyneed

aride

Huh Oh no thanks

Irsquoll catch the

train

Crsquomonbe myguest

OKthen

Thanks

DENTIST

Are yougoing tostay atOkazakiDentist

for alongtime

I donrsquotknow I

might quit

when Iget

married

Howaboutyou

MeIrsquoll beon myownoneday

Irsquoll be asuccessso that Ican makethe old

man feelsorry

ldquothat oldmanrdquoWhorsquosthat

Huh wellI mean myfather

Yoursquoll be a successas an orthodontistEveryone knows how

good you are DrOzaki likes your

work too

Goodluck

Yuko

Thank you foreverything

Hirao I had agreat time

Metoo

can weget

togetheragain

Sure

I startedto like

YukoTaniguchi

Yoursquore

Misuzursquosbrother

HelloKyosuke

Longtime no

see

Youwerenrsquothome soI waitedfor you

Whatbrings

youheretoday

Um Sorry toshow up likethis all of a

sudden

Actually Ineed you todo me a big

favor

Do youstill loveMisuzu

If so Iwant you

to come toour houseand talk

to myfather

I want youto get

married tomy sister

whatare youtalkingabout

Yes yesI know

Have youforgotabout

all theterriblethings

you toldme

I do apologizefor what Isaid Butwhy donrsquotyou thinkit over

Here Ibrought my

fatherrsquosfavoritedrink

Bring thiswith you andtalk to himagain will

you

Misuzuwill call

a cab to pickyou up

tonight

Just getin the

cab andcome to

myhouse

My fatherwill sayno again

butpleasedonrsquot

give up

Irsquoll beon your

side

Justwait a

minute

I didnrsquotsay I was

going

Yoursquollcome Iknow you

willbecauseyou stilllove her

Misuzulovesyou

deeplytoo

She realized

that afteryou left

her

As herbrother Ihad to dosomethingabout it

Irsquoll be

waiting

See you

tonight

Kyosuke

Irsquomhere

to pickyou up

Pleasecomewithme

Misuzu

FUKATSU

Fatherwhy donrsquotyou letthem get married

Come tothink of itKyosuke is

quite a niceyoung man

No No matterwhat I wonrsquotlet him marry

my misuzu

FatherWe wonrsquotgive up

until yousay yes

Do whatever

you want

It didnrsquot go well

tonight butplease

donrsquot giveup hope

Cab is comingsoon Irsquom

going back tomy room

Misuzursquoll stayhere until it

comes

Irsquollseeyou

later

Yoursquoreso quiettonightIs some-thing on yourmind Not

really

I I was worried I

thought youmight have

someone elsein your life

since I didnrsquotget to see you

for a wholemonth

Are youseeing

someoneelse

UmNo

Ohgood

HereKyosuke

Whatis

this

lateValen-tinersquos

daygift

You broke upwith your

girlfriendso I

assumedyou didnrsquotget any

this year

Thankyou somuch

MissTani-guchi

Justcallme

Yuko

Hey can I comeover

tonightIrsquoll fix dinnerfor you

Sure

Do youlike it

Oh yeahthis isprettygood

wantto dothis

againsome-time

Yuko

Whorsquosthat

Irsquollgetitgoon

eat

uh-oh

canit

be

Kyo-suke

Itrsquos agirl

nameFuka-tsu

Kyo-suke

Kyo-suke

Irsquomhere to

pickyou up

Whorsquosthatgirl

Issheyour

newgirl-

friend

SorryMisuzuyoursquoreright

Driver pleasestop the caband let meout now

Forgiveme

Misuzu

I justrealizedthat Irsquomin love

with her

IrsquomgoingbackGoodbye

Yuko didnrsquot

come towork

next day

OZAKI

DENTIST

She saidshe hada fever

YukorsquosoffThatrsquosodd

Did Ihurther

feel-ingslast

night

Irsquoll go see

herafterwork

WhatShersquosin thehospi-tal

Yes Shegot

reallysick thisafter-noon

So she

reallywas

sick

hospitalizedIt must be

serious

Taniguchi

Yuko

ahuhahuh

Whydid she

haveto go

sosoon

itrsquos my

faultShedied

lsquocauseof me

Yuko

Pleaseforgive

me

Excuseme

butthe

doorwas

open

I justcouldnrsquot

forget aboutyou

So Idecidedto comeagain

Areyou

cryingKyo-

suke

Shedied

Ohno

Misuzuand I

cried allnightlong

I criedfor Yuko

And Misuzucried for

me

Time haspassed Irsquom inmy thirties

now

But Ikeep

visitingMisuzursquoshouseregu-larly

SincethatnightMisuzuand Iare a

coupleagain

But herfather keeps

saying no

Misuzulookedso sad

Butshe

alwayslooked

solovely

Kyo-suke

itrsquosstillnot

hope-less

Yoursquore not giving

up areyou

Irsquollnevergiveup

Nomatter

howold Iget

But

Misuzuwill getold tooas thisgoes on This

is myonlycon-cern

DonrsquotworryYoursquore

gettingmarriedone dayright

Yes

Oops Ileft my

bag

Irsquollgo

getit

Is hegone

Setsuo

Yesfather

Hersquos notgiving up

is he

No Hersquollnever

changehis mind

GoodKeep up

thegoodwork

Tetsuo

Iknowitrsquos alotof

workforyou

but

Itmakesmy lifeworthliving

Setsuo Do you

understandhow I feel

My dearestdaughter

taken away bythat man

What ashame

I knowhow you

feel

Kyosukewill never

stop askingfor my

approval

But hersquollnever

get whathe

wants

Yoursquoreright

father

Wahahahah

son ofa

playingwith my

emotionsall thistime

DoesMisuzuhaveany

idea

Misuzu Misuzu

Misuzu

Yoursquorenot

marryingmy

daughter

Therersquosno way

I broughtyour favoritedrink todayMr Fukatsu

Hopeyoursquoll

like it

Heh Irsquolltake it

since youinsist

But Giftswonrsquot makeme changemy mind

Irsquoll justdeal with

it

I justdonrsquot

want thisplan to

fail

Idonrsquotcare

iftheyfindout

The poisonin thedrinks

willtake

effectand

then

littleby

little

His deathwill be all the

ldquoapprovalrdquoI need

As soonas he

dies Irsquollmarry

Misuzu

Yessir

Feh Soonhersquoll have no

time to worryabout

others

Have youlost some

weightKyosuke

luckilyher

fatherseemed to

like thedrink

You need tostart eatingbetter Irsquod

say

gradually spiking

them withlarger

doses ofpoison

I keptgiving him poisoneddrinks

as timewent on he

began tosoften

he wasclearlygettingweaker

GoodIrsquom

almostthere

Soon Irsquollget the

approval

Huf Huf

Can youhear mefather

Misuzursquoshere

Kyosukersquosheretoo

Itrsquos me MrFukatsu

How do youfeel

Howlong

have Iknownyou

13yearsnow

Kyosuke

Irsquom notgoing

tomake

it

donrsquotsay

that

Kyo-suke

has itbeen that

long

Kyosukeyou shouldknow thatMisuzu wasreally inlove with

you

When shebroke upwith youthat one

time

she told methat her

love for youwas real

But Icouldnrsquot

letmyself

admit it

andshe

killedher-

self afewdayslater

Itrsquosbeen

ButLater

Setsuo sawher spiritHer spirit

askedSetsuo

Then her spirit began

to appearwith you butI still didnrsquotapprove themarriage

It wastoo late

after all

How couldI let youmarry my

deaddaughter

butThat wasjust anexcuse

I justwanted to

see mydaughterThe spiritshows upwith you

I usedyou so I

could seeMisuzu

I Missed mydaughter

And I used youall these

years just tokeep seeing

her

to help her convince

me

Misuzukilled

herself

Irsquovebeen

foolingyou Misuzursquos

alreadydead

PPleaseforgive

mme

papa

papa

No

itrsquosa

lie

Misuzuis rightherewithme

MMisuzuwhere

are you

lookingback

Maybe Yukodied lsquocause

she wascursed by

Misuzu

And Ilooklike aghostnow

Canthis be

hercursetoo

Misuzuis

here

again

Misuzucomes tome every

night

with a cheerful lookshe beckonsme far away

from my apartment

door

I can hearher say

ldquoKyosukeour

marriageis finallyapproved

rdquo

Approval End

You never talkabout beesanymoretakano

Doyou

thinkso

Yes Youused to

talk aboutbees allthe time

Yoursquore notchasing

bees lately are

you

Collectingbeehives ismy hobbybut I have

otherthings to

do as well

Irsquom justnot

into itthesedaysthatrsquos

all

HmmTherersquosa lot ofthemaroundthough

Heyforgetaboutbees

Wow

a GiantHornet

Theyrsquorerare

aroundhere

Gottago

Yoriko

WaitTakanoLet mego with

you

itrsquosgoinglowernow

Itsnest

must beclose

Ack

Canrsquot believe itrsquos going in that

direction

Takano

HuffHuff

Didyoufindthehive

noHuh why

did you stopchasing it

UmWell

You stoppedchasing forno reason

Yoursquorestrange

By the way whydonrsquot you cometo my place Irsquoll

show you my collection

Irsquove seenthem

already

I havenew

ones

Really

Oh Iget itYoursquorescaredof theghost

Theghost

Have you heardthe story aboutthe ghost hesounds like akid moaning

Donrsquotyou

believe it I do

Thatrsquosridicu-lous

Hey

Do youknowabouthim

Him

Yrsquoknowthe

weirdkid

Hersquosbeen

missingfor a

while

Donrsquotyou

remem-ber

I met himwhen Ifound abeehive

under theeaves of

my house

It wasalso the

day I firstmet you

Oh god I neverknew

there wasa beehive

there

Theyrsquore wasps arenrsquotthey Theyrsquore dangerous

Yoursquovegot ahugehiveMrs

Nishio

Ohhello

Yoriko

Helloneighbor

You should getrid of them

soon We hadone of themlast year

Therersquostons ofwasps

aroundhere

Whichextermi-

natordid youcall

Well I askedone of theneighborrsquos

kids He tookthe wasps

with his barehands

A kidBare

hands

He was kind of weird He

wasnrsquot afraidof the waspsat all and hekept talking

to himself

I think he wantedto keep

the beehive

for himself

But thanksto him thebeehiversquos

gone

How canI findthatkid

I donrsquot know I see him fromtime to time He

said he livesaround here

uhlsquoscuseme

Myname

isTaka-no

Wouldyou

mind ifI take

thebeehive

offyour

hands

Are youan exter-minator

Not really Iwas just

passing by

My hobby isbeehives

and that oneis a beautyIrsquod like to

see it

Oh yeahpleasetake it

Irsquoll get a

ladder

AhWait a

second

I canrsquot doit now

wasps aremost active

in the daytime

I have towait forthem to

go tosleep Irsquollbe backtonight

Greatwersquoll bewaitingfor you

Irsquoll takethat

beehivefor you

What

Willyou

get methelad-der

itrsquos thekid I

told youabout

Please get methe ladderIrsquoll take it

for you

You donrsquothave to The

guy overthere willtake care

of it

yoursquoresmall

It couldbe dan-gerous

butthis guyusesinsecti-cide

I can get thehive offwithout

killing thewasps

This areawas oncea forestPeople

cut downall the

trees tobuild the

town

Thatrsquoswhy

thereare somany

waspsThey

used tolive in

thewoods

So Ithink

peopleshouldleave

any-waygetthelad-der

Hmm

Be careful

OK guyswersquore

movingget

inside

willhe beOK

amazingnot asinglesting

Irsquollkeepthisone

Wow thatwas

something

Hey kidHold it

I was the one who

found thatbeehive

But Igot it

off

YouIrsquove seenyou before inthe woods

Are you a hivecollector

too

Ah-ha

Lately someonersquos

been sneakingaround takingthe beehives I

find

Irsquom not sayingyoursquore the only onebut Irsquom sure yoursquore

one of themArenrsquot I right

Irsquom justsaving thehives fromsuckerslike you

Wasps are myfriend

Heywait

thatrsquosmineGive itto me

Damn

WAA

AreyouOK

YYeah

Thatbrat

He tookoff

Didtheystingyou

No

why didthey

attackyou

Ohyoursquore

Yes IrsquomYoriko

I forgotto say

thanksso I

followedyou

ThanksFor what

I didnrsquotdo

anything

Donrsquotsay

that

Wellsure

When didyou moveto thistown

3months

ago

yeah Irsquovebeen here ayear I likeit lots of

bees

letrsquosbe

pals

onlytakes aminuteto getto thewoods

Oh

Takano

HeyTakanoWhat are

you doing

ShhhIrsquom usingthe tuna

fish tolurebees

Thatonersquos

calledldquoBlackWasprdquo

It makes afood ball totake to the

larvae

Whatrsquosthat

I markedthe tunafish withcotton

The cottonis my tracer

Now Irsquoll follow it

Then Irsquollfind itsbeehive

Irsquomgoingtoo

waititrsquosnot

safe

Irsquollbe

fine

Be careful

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

Did youfind it

yoursquorequite arunner

It wentin the

cave Thehive mustbe in it

Iwanna

goinsidetoo

Nowasps

arevicious

Youcouldget

killed

The hollowbooming

is so loud

I canrsquotbelieve

it

How candifferentkinds of

wasps getalonglike

that

The boymustrsquovebrought

them hereBut how

WowWhat a

collection

Howwasit

Ifound

it

it wassmallerthan I

thought

I want to paymy respectto that boy

for his amazing

collection

The boywhorsquosgone

missingnow

Wow nowyou havethreetimesmore

Whendid youget somany

I couldbuild my

own museum

But itrsquos hardto keep

them fromgettingspoiled

You didnrsquottell me

all aboutthis

By theway

aboutthat

missingboy

Notagain

I think someone killedhim and buried

the body in the woods

The rumorsays itrsquos a

ghost ofthat boy

And Ithink so

too

Irsquod betterreplace

it

someonemight hearthe rumorand start

diggingaround

I wentback tothe cave

thatnight

Andranintothatboy

thewasps

attackedme

though Ihad

protectivegear on Ipanicked

I strangled

him

Wherewasit

eh

Amark

Must bethe bee

hunterrsquosSomeonewas here

during theday

they maybe profes-sionals

Couldit

be

The HornetI saw

todAyThen thehive mustbe in theground

Yes Iwas

right

Theyrsquoregate-

keepers

What luckIrsquom glad I

brought the insecticide

Irsquoll getthis onebeforethe kid

Shall Istartnow

ThereHow

beauti-ful

such agorgeousstripe

AckHey you

Stop digging

We found it

first bastard

shitsome-onersquoshere

Gottahurry

Damnitrsquos

stuckin theroot

Shit

YouComehere

Gotit Hey

wait

WAAAAITDamn it

HuffHuff

HuffHuff

HaaaHaaa

Irsquombeat

I didit

Blood

Oh

I guess Ihurt a

mole orsomething

when Icut off

the root

Anyway

Irsquoll take abath andcall it a

night

thenextday

TakanoTakano

Takano

Yoriko Whatdo you wantthis early

Guesswhat

happened

The missingboy wasfound

His body wasfound by bee

huntersHe was buried in

the woods

But hishead waschopped

off

When theyfound the

body it wasstill

bleeding

They also sawa man run

away with theboyrsquos head

and thepolice areafter him

He reallywas buried

in thewoods

TakanoTakano

WhatrsquoswrongOpen up

Run awaywith thehead

Thatblood

SomebodyPlease tellme whatrsquosgoing on

Wha Whatthe

AIGH

His headis insidethe hive

The GiantHornets

must havebuilt thebeehive

around hisburied head

ButHowAndWhy

The HornetI saw had abig chunkof tuna

so the foodwas for the

boyAnd thatmeans

Was heburiedalive

Itrsquos hardto believe

thatHornets

were caring fora boy but

itrsquos theonly

explanationI can think

of

It was hisneck nota root of

thetree

I cut hishead offwithoutknowing

it

ACK

TheGiant

Hornets

How didthey

get inhere

Theremust bea holesome-where

WAAA

AYiiiEEE

The Hornetsstarted tomake meatballs frommy body to

feed theboy

Thentheyrsquollstart

tomendthe

brokenhive

soontheirhome

will bewholeagain

Beehive End

My friendChizuru

got prettier

She trans-formedwithin amonth

They saybeing youngor in love

makes girls prettier

but

TOILET

In Chizurursquoscase shebecame atotally

differentgirl

Now I canbarely find her former self

How did youget sopretty

Chizuru

I haveno

idea

TOILET

Sheseemedto be

puzzledtoo

But shealso

seemedhappy withher newlooks

Chizuru

Wersquollgo

now

Some said shehad plastic

surgery but itwasnrsquot true

She wasbecomingprettierslowly

just like bloomingflowers

Letrsquosgo

Hiroko

OKay

Thereshe is

ChizuruTanakaused to

be one of ldquothe ugly

triordquo in our grade

huhfor

real

incre-dibleisnrsquotit

amazingHow could

shechange

likethat

itrsquos realI knowlsquocos Irsquomin herclass

yeah

But shedoesnrsquotlook sohealthy

yeah

Thiswas

trueshe

lookedstun-ningbutalso

some-what

anemic

and amonthlater

shegotevenmore

lovely

shemadeeveryheadturn

But

Two anda half

monthslater

she collapsedand died

while running onthe track

She hada heartattack

AyakoWhat

Thatrsquoshow

Chizuruused to

look

god itwas all

sostrange

they dissectedher bodyat thehospital

no oneknows whyher lookschanged

it had nothing todo with her

death

YoutwoBe

quiet

ldquoBeautyDies

YoungrdquoMaybe thesayingrsquos

true

Hey AyakoWhat

would youdo if

you got prettierlike her

What

Well

Wouldja askyour dreamboy Mizuno

out

You likehim

donrsquotyou

stop jokingHirokoWe justwent toour bestfriendrsquos

funeral

SorryBut itdoesnrsquot

feel realto me

She wasalmost adifferent

personwhen she

died

Yeah

Then awhilelater

Hirokostarted

tochange

shetoldme

her sisterone yearyounger

started tochange

too

A month went by and she

was almost a different

person

Whatrsquosreallygoingon

GoodmorningHiroko

HelloYukari

You lookextraprettytoday

Whatrsquosthe

secret

facialswhat

Irsquom notdoing athing

so weirdfirst

Chizuruand now

you

Andyour

sistertoo

right

Maybe I can bepretty too if I

keep sittingnext to you

Hope itrsquosconta-gious

ugh Yukarirsquos allover Hiroko nowShe used to taunther and the rest

of the ldquougly 3rdquo

ldquotheugly

threerdquohuh

Itrsquos ldquotheugly onerdquo

now

Look myacne isgone

does thismean Irsquomnext to

get pretty

ReallyLet me

see

Itrsquosgone

and theldquorrdquo is anactual

numberso

you justassign it

in thisformula

Mizuno

Everyonerise

CLASS E

Whatare youdoing

Ayako

Letrsquosgo

home

OK

WhatrsquoswrongAyako

You lookglum

Oh nonot

again

Whatrsquosthat

Love letters Iget them

a lot lately

I nevergot onewhen I

was ugly

thatrsquoshowguysare

Um

Oh bytheway

Huh

How do youfeel about

Mizuno

I donrsquothave anyfeelingstowards

him

oh Good

Hey AyakoYou should

get pretty

too

WhaWhat

Itrsquos notgonna

happen tome

Yes it will It

happenedto me

it mustbe

catching

I donrsquot knowhow Chizurugot it but I

know I got itfrom her

EvenYukarigot it

I didnrsquotwant

her toshe just

did

Hiroko wasright a week

later I couldclearly see

the changes inYukari And just

likeHiroko

shelooked

somewhatanemic

itbecamewidelyknownamong

thegirls

and theystarted tosurroundHiroko and

Yukari

Evengirls inother

classes

the girlstouched

them everychance theygot trying

to catchwhat they

had

Then

The number

ofpretty-

yet-anemicgirls grew

Idonrsquotget it

Wersquollbe

morepretty

I think

a modelagencyagentscouted meon thestreet theother day

Really

theregoes

Hiroko

Shersquoswith

Mizuno

She lookseven better

donrsquot youthink

Oh Shenever

changesa bit

Isnrsquot shegettingit Shemust beimmune

What doyou

think

at thispoint 14of the

girls havechanged

itrsquos verystrangeI canrsquotfind an

explana-tion

How canonersquoslookstrans-

form likethat

Notonlythatmoregirlsare

gettingit

Rightsome-how itonly

affectsgirls

Maybe itrsquos a

strainedtheory

but I thinkitrsquos becausethe end of

the century is

coming

Theendof

A lot ofstrange things

happened nearthe ends ofcenturies

past

look atthose girls

Donrsquot youthink their

beauty signifies theend of thecentury

Oh

ThatrsquosKaori

Whomy

sister

Kaori

whyrsquoreyou here

allalone

Hiroko

Youtwolook

soalike

Whatrsquoswrong

Ijust

feelsick

KAORI

KaoriKaori

o god Icanrsquot

feel herpulse

Irsquollget

help

kaoridiedthatday

Kaori

A weeklaterYukaridied

Whatrsquos wrongHurry or yoursquoll

be late forschool

YUKARI

And twodays after

thatanothergirl died

Hey a girlrsquosdown over

there

Thenextday

Andagain

all theprettygirlsweredying

their constant

deathsstarted a

rumorthat said

All the deadgirls wereinfected

with a disease

thatmakes youbeautiful

before youdie

Are wedyingtoo

No Idonrsquotwannadie yet

Hiroko morning

HeeheeGoodfor

them

Theyused to

thank meand

followme

now theyall ignoreme evenMizuno I

feelrelieved

I haveno

regrets

Irsquodrather

dieyoungand

pretty

thanbe ugly

andold

Besides Idonrsquot

believethe

rumors

YYoursquoreright

Look atme Irsquom

still OKWhat doesthat say

Butthere

are allsorts ofrumors

Have youheard

the newone

ldquothe disease isdeadly but there

is one way to surviverdquo

ldquokill a girlof your age

on thethird Friday

of everymonthrdquo

ldquoand youwonrsquot loseyour lifeor yourlooksrdquo

HeheSounds

sodumb

Itrsquos notthat easy

Irsquomhappyforyou

Ayako

looksarenrsquotworthyourlife

The deathsof the girls

went on

KYAAA

Hospitalswere

crowded withfrightened

girls

Doctorafter

doctorlookedfor thecause of

the disease

But its

causewas

neverfound

with nocausativefactor noone couldverify its

infectivity

one teacherrsquostheory of anldquoend of the

century diseaserdquoproved

persuasive

Thenone

night

lately myfriendsdonrsquot

come toschool

EvenHirokorsquos

beengone fora week

Maybe I

shouldgo

visither

huh

Shelookssick

butthatmust

beHiroko

and theothertwo prettygirls

Where arethey goingthis timeof night

HuffHuff

Are wegonna find

someoneHiroko

We willSomeonemust be

outhere

HirokoIs therumortrue

WhoknowsBut wehave totry it

Can I ask you guys afavor Please let me

do the first oneI Irsquove been feeling

so sick

I musthurry or Icould die

soon

today isa thirdFriday

Arethey

Are theygoing to killsomeone

See youtomor-

row Seeya

Bye

Huhahuh

Irsquovego tostayalive

Ack

YEEE

HirokoStop

Ayako

helpSomebody Wait

MoveHiroko

Irsquolldo it

Youlostyourturn

Irsquollgether

pantpant

pantpant

HaaaaHaaaa

Wheredrsquoyou

think youcan go

Itrsquos adead endstreet

You withthe

glasses

Huh

I did it

If therumorrsquostrue I

wonrsquot dienow

Heehee damn

Heeheehee

Whyyou

Hiroko

I Canrsquotbelieve

youstopped

me

H HirokoDonrsquot becrazy pant

pant

Donrsquot you realizeitrsquos just a stupid

rumor how can killing

someone save your life

Hey holdAyako for

me so thatI can stab

her

Now

II

donrsquotwant

to

Sorrygoodbye

coward

Hiroko

PleasestopDonrsquotdo it

Shutup whodo youthinkyou

are

You donrsquotunderstandhow I feel

Yoursquoll get tosee the 21stcentury but

not me

An ugly girllike you

should bethe onedying

Hiroko

Hiroko

The end ofthe 20thcentury

and astrangesicknesswas goingaround

Dying Young End

ART ROOM sorry RumiI canrsquot gohome withyou today

FACULTY

FACULTY

Irsquom stayingto help

MrOkabe

Butitrsquos

get-tinglate

Idonrsquotmind

PLAS

TER

Youshouldgo homeShimada

I cantake

care ofthe

rest

I reallydonrsquot

have togoMr

Okabe

momanddadare

out oftown

Besideswhatrsquoll you

do if youmiss the

deadline

Your exhibitis opening

soon

I justwant tohelp aspart ofthe art

club

Itrsquos greatyoursquore having

your ownexhibit Mr

OkabeYou may befamous one

day

Your work isso uniqueHeadless

sculpturesof all

varieties

Well Imade them

headless notbecause Iwas lazy

Omitted faceshave limitlesspossibilities

this is my message

Facesare

point-less in

art

Human facesexpress so muchbut the faces infamous paintings

with fewexceptions those faces

show either no expressions

or thin smiles

SoWho

reallyneeds

it

theface at

thebottomof myglass

will dofor me

huhWowYoutalklike areal

artist

Donrsquot besilly I aman artist

some-times I

feellike

makingone

with ahead

Maybe Ishouldask you

tomodel

Fine but Iwonrsquot take

off myclothes

Thatrsquostoobad

You needto stopit Irsquomgoinghome

OhRumirsquosmadnowsir

Heyholdon asec

Donrsquot tellanyone thatIrsquom staying

late

Yeah Iknow Iknow

See youtomorrow

the old building isspooky Only the

art roomrsquos open andthe rest are darkempty classrooms

Those twoare quitenervy tostay hereso late

ARTROOM

thenextday

Is Shimadastill

sleep

Did hestay up

late lastnight

WHois it

HiShimadaitrsquos meHurrywersquorelate

Oh hiRumi

I donrsquotfeeltoo

good

Irsquoll beabsenttoday

AreyouOK

Whatthe

whatrsquosgoing on

MrOkabe

gotkilled

Really

a studentfound him

dead in theart room

And hishead isgone

Thehead

His headlessbody was

laying on thefloor of the

art room

I think hestayed lateto prepare

for his exhibit

Was healone

Was anyone

with him

he was aloneWe donrsquot allow

students tostay late and

no one sawanything

The murdertook place

around midnight

could be apsycho

no classeswere heldAfter an

emergencymeeting all

studentswere sent

home

Irsquom theonly one

who knowsabout

Shimada

Ialmost

toldthem

But Ididnrsquot

want toget him

in trouble

ButHe didsoundweirdthis

morning

Somethingstoppedme fromringing

the doorbell

So Ijustwenthome

thenextday

thatuniform

Itrsquosstill

summer

SHIMADA

OFF LIMITS

OFF LIMITS

Are yougoinghome

alone

Shimada

you didnrsquotcome by thismorning I

waited

Irsquom sorry Iwas in rushDo you stillhave that

cold

I gotlovesick

You

heardabout

MrOkabe

I canrsquot believehersquos dead I

talked to him thatday

Donrsquot youhave anyidea whodid it

Maybe yousaw

someonesuspicious

Idonrsquotknow

OK

Youthink Ikilled

him huh

No Idonrsquot

Whyshould

I

I was thelast one who

saw himbefore he

died I wouldnot blame

you

I said Idonrsquot thinkthat Whyare you so

weird

Weird

Peopleget

weirdwhen

theyrsquorein love

Yoursquoreso

prettyRumi

Shimada

Whatrsquoswithyou

Yoursquorescaring

me

I wasalwayswaiting foryou tocome tothe artroom

Do youknow howmy heart

was beatingwhen Isaw youthere

Letrsquos gofor awalk

Irsquolltell

you thetruth

Attentionstudentsitrsquos time

to gohome now

alls students

must leavethe schoolpremises

Sanae willyou go to the

art roomwith me

Whattheart

room

I left mybooks thereI need themfor the quiztomorrow

Oh youwere inthe art

club

Butitrsquosoff

limitsnowyou

know

Crsquomonno one

willknow

But Irsquomscared

donrsquotbe likethat

KEEP OUT

AughItrsquos sospooky

Shutup and

getinside

WhatWhy

donrsquot yougo first

Therewas a

murderjust

two daysago

Look

the floorrsquoscovered

Thatrsquos whereMr Okabersquosbody was

lyingThe floor must

be stainedwith blood

whydid heget

killed

Someonewith a

grudgemaybe

Hedidnrsquothave

to dielike

that

Hurryup

Masami

Youhaveto gowithme

Howcruel

Canrsquotbelieve

someonechopped hishead off

and thehead is still

missing

Crsquomonstopit

HurryMasami

OKOK

Wheredid Iputit

FACULTY

Some-onersquoshere

MrOkabe

GYAAAAAAA

Are yousure hersquos

aliveShimada

itrsquos trueRumi a

situationforced himto hide inthe old

building Irsquomgoing to seehim tonight

So whosebody wasthat

HuhThe

doorrsquosopen

someonegot in

Comewithme

Youevenhave

gloveson

feelshard

ART ROOM

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquoll beheresoon

FACULTY

Letrsquoswaithere

untilhe

comes

Hey you smellsomething

likesome-thingrsquosspoiled

All thesculpturesexcept oneare gone

Did thepolice take

them

Onlythe

standsareleft

weird

Ack

Whyrsquodyou

lockthe

door

Whatrsquoswrong

ShimadaYoursquore

bleedingfrom your

mouth

Mygod

Itrsquosnothng

wheredid that

voicecome

from

WherersquosMr

Okabe

Hersquosbeen in

this roomalready

See

SShimada

AiieeeeHere goesthe greatartist Mr

Okabe

Oh Rumi yoursquovegot such a

pretty face

Rumi

Rumi

NOOO

GYAAA

GYAAA

RUMI RUMISomebody

Somebodyhelp

RUMI

the sculpture

Why

itwonrsquotopen

Itwonrsquot

Ohno

Why youHow couldyou kill my

fiance

YouGive me

your headGive it to

me

WAAh

Eee

FACULTY

Pleasehelpme

Heehee

KYAAA

Heeheehee

AIGH

The sculpturestook their

heads

But

whoare

thesetwo

Theyrsquoreflockingto each

head

theyrsquorefightingfor theheads

Hey Hey

Guesswhat we

havenow

Some-onersquoshere

Andshersquos

sopretty

Thatface ismine

Oh noitrsquoll bemine

AIGH

WAAAA

Yee

Giveme

yourhead

YOURHEAD

GYAAAhh

Headless Sculptures End

my name isMomoko

Takigawa on adark street

on my wayhome fromwork I sawsomething horrible

Humm Some saythat a monsterwanders around

this street

shouldhave

takenthemain

street

Eeee

Ohmy

god

WhaWhat isthis

Itsmells

sobad

Howcouldshe

Whata

day

itrsquosdrying

out

Itburns

Is itsome

kind ofglue

ouchouchouch

Whowasthatand

why

oh myout-fitrsquos

ruinedtoo

I managed

to ripthe

stickystuff

off mybody

But myhair was

hopelessI had no

choice butto cut it

This isawful

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

WAAAYour hair

Wahaha

I got amakeover

How doI

look

Notgood

Youlook

like ababy

likea

boy

SUNFLOWERCLASS

so myworld isupsidedown

Did youtell thepolice

MissTakigawa

No

Youshouldnrsquotbe cryingyourselfto sleep

but Ihear

things likethat are

quite commonlately

HeyYutamy

turn

Noitrsquos

not

Itrsquosmy

turn

Noway

Y Yuta

Oops

CHIKARA

YUTA

YutaWhat didyou just

say

GYAAA Whatis it WAAA

WhatrsquoswrongYuta

Chikarascratched

me

Notagain

Chikara

DidnrsquotI tell

youbefore

to play

nice

Let me seeAh just a

tiny scratchYoursquoll be OK

TellYuta

yoursquoresorry

StopChikara

CHIKARA

Hersquos inyour

classisnrsquot he

Uh-huh Hersquosa trouble

maker

Hersquos so

violent

he sure is

different

Plus his looksHe scares mesometimes popping up

from nowhere

Thatrsquostrue

but hehas avery

youngpretty

mother

hopefullyhersquoll looklike herone day

AughHere

comesChikara

Everyonerun

oh Chikararsquosripping thepaintings

again

HeyChikaraStop it

Again

Why do youtear up

our workWe worked

hard onthese

Tellme

why

Irsquom not

tearing

This is the

peeling

same thingEnough withthe smart

mouth

Thatrsquosright

You noid

Kosuke

Do you wantme to peelthe skinoff your

face

WhaWhat do

youmean

the other kidswere trulyafraid of

Chikararsquos looksbrutality and

devilish behavior

Byenow See you

tomorrow

HiChikaraletrsquos go

home

MrsKawabe

MrsKawabe

IrsquomMomokoTakigawaChikararsquosteacher

Oh MissTakigawayou got ahaircut

YesI

did

I was aboutto go hometoo Would

you mind if Igo with you

NoOf

coursenot

so he getsviolent

from timeto time

he isnrsquotoutgoing

and doesnrsquotshow too

much emo-tion

How ishe doing

athome

itrsquosjust myopinionbut he

seems alittle

dis-turbed

Maybe hersquos

hungryfor

affec-tion

His fatherrsquospassing away

may havesomething to

do with it

But Irsquomsure youcan makeup for it

Iagree

Chikara isa lonelychildPoor

thing

How couldshe talkabout him

like hewas

someoneelsersquoschild

Um Wouldyou mind ifI visit your

home

Irsquove wantedto talk

this overwith you

Sure

Pleasecome

KAWABE

Just asecondplease

What

Irsquoll goget

Chikararsquosmom

You seeIrsquom just his auntActuallymy oldersister is his mom

We livetogether

Ohexcuseme I

thoughtsince

you pickhim up

Thatrsquosfine

Hello MissTakigawa

Pleased tomeet you

Thank youfor beinga greatteacherfor my

son

Irsquom hismother

Sorry youhad to

wait I wastaking a

bath

No no Irsquomsorry forpopping inlike this

I didnrsquotknowyou

werebathing

No problem at all

donrsquot worryabout it Irsquom

always takinga bath anyway

Thisway

please

Pleasehave aseat

Changingthe wallpaperTherersquosno endto it

Chikararips

themoff

rightaway

What abad boyCome to

momChikara

His motherspoke

with noexpression

on herface

Somethingabout her was

off I was perplexed by

her and canrsquotquite

rememberwhat we

talked about

But Iremembershe actedlike sheloved

Chikaravery much

That nightthe scars on

the wallslooked

malicious tome

HIKARIYAMAKINDERGARTEN

Irsquom introuble

MissTakigawa

What happened

Chikarahurt a

couple ofkids again

and theirparents are complainingabout him

If he keeps itup wersquoll beforced to

take action

HeySatoruhave you

seenChikara

noMiss

Takigawa

I saw himchasingKosuke

Whichwaydidhe

go

to thebathroom

AiiEEE

GYAAhGYAAA

Kosuke

KOSUKE

What happenedto your

faceKosuke

Th Theskin on

yourface

DirectorKosukersquos

hurt

CHIKARA

Chikarahurt

Kosukeprettybadly

and hewas

finallyexpelledfrom the

class

But hedidnrsquotstop

comingeveryday

and continuedto scare

the otherkids

Chikara ITold you youcanrsquot come

here anymore

You haveto gohomenow

No Idonrsquot

wanna gohome

Whynot

One day hefollowed

me all theway to my

apartment

whatcan Isay

Come in

ChikaraHello

Momoko

I invitedmyself

in

Whathap-

penedto yourhair

Dad

Whatbrings

youhere

the medical association just

had a meeting nearhere so I decided

to stop by

Whorsquosthekid

One of mystudentsHe followed

me home

Isee

Let meseeyourfaceson

Has his skin always

been damagedlike this

Notsure

But Ithinkitrsquos

gottenworse

Whydonrsquotyou

take alookdad

Hmm Itrsquosnot my

specialtybut hisskinrsquos

gettingthinner

and His finger-prints

aregone

Itrsquosspread all

over hisbody

Doesnrsquot itbother

you

I have noidea whatthis is

He reallyshould

consult aspecialist

Keepinghealthyskin isimpor-tant

Itrsquos time togo homeYour mommust be worried

Crsquomon Irsquoll gowith you

No Idonrsquotwanna

go

My godMiss

Takigawayou cameall the

way

Yoursquovebeen sucha bad boyChikara

Irsquomsorry Iinter-rupted

yourbath

again

Pleasedonrsquot

besorryHehe

isChikaragoing toanotherschool

Yes wersquorelooking nowbut I donrsquotknow yet

Isee

ohby the

way

My fatherrsquosa doctorand hersquosworriedabout

Chikararsquosskin

Isthatso

Thankyouforyourkind-ness

But Idonrsquotthink

itrsquos thatserious

Chikarawill be a

good-lookingboy very

soon

Heehee

Hee hee

He thinksyou shouldconsult aspecialist

is itreadyMaya

Yes I

thinkso

Weshould

dofinethistime

I donrsquotwant

to failany-

more

I guesswe didnrsquotblend it

rightlasttime

But we didfollow the

instructions

Hmm

Some-thingmust

bewrong

Comehere

Chikara

Youheard

me

Wersquoredoing

this foryou

WAAAA

put thisin yourmouth

Likebeforebreathe

with yourmouth

okAugh

UuughAugh

uhghh-hhh

lookslike itrsquos

set

Letrsquospeel

it

OK

Yeee

HuffHuff

Itrsquos no good ifnothing

happens in anhour

Aiiee

Itrsquosbeen

anhour

Wefailedagain

Not againWhat wentwrong this

time

Why doesnrsquot

the formulawork

It doesnrsquotwork nomatterhow we

try

Weshouldnrsquot

do this to him

anymore

Maybe theingredientsare gettingtoo old Idonrsquot wantChikara to

suffer anymore

just look athim Wersquore

peeling hisskin off

everytime weuncover him

Whatrsquore youtalking aboutIrsquom just tryingto show him histrue beauty

I wantto seeit too

Iwannasee

Ohmy

Ugh

Iwannasee Iwannasee

Irsquoll be fineMomoko

You can goback now

You should

stay dadI wish

Icouldbut Icanrsquot

Takecaredear

Bye dadTell

mom Isaid hi

GYAA

Whatdid youdo tome

Thatmustbe

Wait

PantPant

PantPant

Huff Huff

There

Who thehell areyou show

your faceIrsquom

sorry

Irsquomsorry

Irsquomsorrypleaseforgive

me

HuhAck

YoursquoreChikararsquos

aunt

PleaseMiss

Takigawa

Let me go

Whatrsquosgoingon

What isthe

stickyliquid

And whyare you

dumping iton people

Thatrsquos

itrsquos a beauty

medicineaccording

to my sister

A beauty

medicine

Yes it wasdeveloped

by my brother-in-

law my sisterrsquos husbandbefore he

died

By using it

my sisterhas

securedthe

beauty she

wanted

But she isnrsquotstill

satisfiedShersquos tryingto changeChikara as

well

and heraesthetic is

really twisted

To save ChikaraI changed the

formula ofthe medicinesecretly so

that it wonrsquotwork

but it stilldamages

Chikararsquos skinterriblybecause of the

constantusage

SeeingChikarasuffer

tears myheartapart

So Istarted

to take itto

strangers

I didnrsquotbelieve

her

But IthoughtChikaralsquos

being abusedwas true

GRRR

Excuse mesir

Yes

Tell mesomething

am I

beautiful

Oh mygod

H

Heeelp

WAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Please forget thewhole thingMiss Takigawa

stay awayIrsquom tellingyou this for

your ownsake

Pleaseleave

before mysister finds

out

I canrsquot let mystudent suffer

like this

I mustsee his

mother

Let metalk

to her

talking toher wonrsquot

do anygood

PLeaseleaveNow

Heehee

Please justlisten to

what I haveto say

This is nothingbut todayrsquosalchemy a miracle

My husband was amodern

alchemist Hededicated his lifeto the study of

an elixir

He workedfor dayswithout

sleeping Itwas a

constantprocess oftrial and

error

andthis is

the medicinehe madeat last

The fomula

is written

in hisreports

My husbandbelieved in itand tried iton himself

All he had todo was spread

it over hisbody and letit dry He wasthat close toundying youth

But he got anunexpectedresult an

hour later

He was shocked andhe died I can imagine

how frightened hewas I mean how

could he expect tosee something like

that

Yes Hislooks reallychanged but

not in theway he

expected Hepassed awaysoon afterseeing the

result

itlsquos ashame

because

I found thereal beauty

in his transformed

body

This is thestory ofour lives

MissTakigawa

You see Irsquomboiling the

medicineright now I

Hope itrsquollwork this

time

Irsquoll letyou try

sometoo

Donrsquot do itIt wonrsquotwork

HushMaya

Boil downhides of oxand pig as

well astheir bones

add herbrhus lac-

quer and avariety ofsolvents

Then add afew drops

of thisdeadly

poison fora finishing

touch

in this bottle is a

strong acid

it meltsjust aboutanything

OopsAiiEEE

MAYA

Maya Ispilledit on my

leg

Maya get it offNow This acid is

penetrative

What areyou waitingfor Pullthe zipperdown now

Hurry or mymuscles will

be burnttoo

YYes

YeeeHurryHurry

Canrsquot youhear me

Hurry

AiiEE

What I sawwas a human

with noflesh

GYAAA

Oh goodIt didnrsquot

getburnt

wiggledlike

cater-pillarsevery

time she moved

The stripsof red

muscleson her

skinlessbody

Her legs andhands were

covered withmeshes of

white tendons that

looked likethey could

snap off withthe slightest

tug

all movingin and out

underneath atranslucent

membrane

Maya Hurryand wash theacid off my

skin

Do it now or

itrsquoll get damaged

YYes

Are yousuprised

MissTakigawa

Hehe

HeeheeYes thatrsquos right this

is what scared myhusband to deathThe medicine worksas a separator of

skins and muscles

I found theultimate

beauty in myhusbandrsquos

bare body

You can work outand develop yourmuscles as muchas you want but

itrsquos still nomatch for thebeauty of thebare muscles

Most people willnever get a chance tosee this true beautyalthough itrsquos hidden

right under the skin

such ashameDonrsquotyou

agree

So Icastmy

skinoff

My husbandtried tomake an

elixirbut hefailed

But as aresult

Irsquovefound

the ultimatebeauty

Iwashed

it

I washed itright awayso it didnrsquot

get damaged

ReallyThanksa lot

Go aheadand soak itin the tank

then

Sure

HeeheeTime for a

bath

When I take itoff I have to

soak it in salinesolution so that

it wonrsquot die

I canrsquot livewithout the

skin Itkeeps mybody niceand moist

If I keep itoff I get

dehydratedvery quickly

I wish Icould look at

my lovely muscles all

day long butI donrsquot wannaget mummified

you know

But Icanrsquot

help itI want

to see it

ButWe canrsquotmake themedicine

without theacid

Huh

odd

this doesnrsquot

smell likethe strong

acid atall

Iwonder

thisis

Thisis

Maya

MayaWhatrsquos going

on here

Tell me nowYoursquore the onemanaging the

chemicals

Thatis

plainwater in

that bottle

PPleaseforgive

me

Ah-haI got it

You putwater in the

bottle didnrsquot you no wonder

it neverworked

Were youtrying toprotectChikara

maybe youthought youwere doingthe rightthing butyou werewrong

My son hasa right to

see his ownmuscles

too

And Iwonrsquotlet

anyonestophim

Ithought

I wasgoing to

faint

Chikararsquosmother was unbelievably

arrogantand insane

Maya

Wheredid youput the

realacid

Tell meNow

UUm

I canrsquottellyou

that

What didyou just

say

How canyou

sabotageme

Mom Iknowwhereit is

I saw auntie

hiding this bottle

Thisis it

right

Thatrsquoswhat I

neededBring itto me

OhChikarathatrsquos

it

Whatrsquore youdoing honeyDonrsquot open ititrsquos not a toy

ChChikara

GYAAAWhat are

youdoing

AiiiEEEEMy skinMy skin

Oh noMy skin

Myskin

COUGH

CHOKE

Huff

HuffHuff

MAYAMy skin is

burnt andruined Maya

what are yougonna do

about it Itrsquosall yourfault

MayaHow are

yougonnatake

care ofthis

Irsquoll turninto a

mummy ifyou donrsquot

do something

Looks likeIrsquoll have to

use yourskin

Irsquoll rip itoff if I

have to

Give it tome now

YEEE DONrsquoT

AUGHSTOPIT

Stopit

Leaveauntiealone

GYAA

UHGHHHHH

My muscles

Oh my muscles

UgUghhh

MissTakigawa

Lookat me

I used themedicine tooThree years

ago

Irsquom dyingmy skin isall tornBut But

but pleasebelieve me Miss

Takigawa Inever wanted to

use the medicine

I wasdeceived

by my ownsister

She toldme it wasgoing tomake me

look beautiful

but heridea of

beauty ishorrible

andthen

Ifaintedaway

Flesh-Colored Horror End

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