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  Kirarin dissolved in laughter, but I was deadly serious. I took the cell phone I’d re-requisitioned out of my pocket and handed it to her.

  “Call Terauchi,” I ordered her.

  “Call her yourself.”

  “My battery’s about out.”

  “Mine, too,” she grumbled, but handed over her cell phone. “It’s number five on the speed dial.”

  “What’s up?” this listless girl’s voice answered right away, like she’d been waiting for the call.

  “It’s me. Worm.”

  The line was silent for a second, and then she spoke briskly.

  “You’re kidding, right? Why the heck are you calling me? Don’t bother me.”

  She spoke in this quick, low voice that revealed how smart she was. The kind of girl I have the most trouble dealing with. Totally different from a lowly foot soldier like Kirarin.

  “I’ve got something to ask you,” I said.

  “It’s so weird you’d use the nickname Worm yourself. It was Toshi who gave you that nickname.”

  “Whatever. That’s not the point.”

  I was getting irritated, finding myself adjusting to her tempo.

  “Is Kirarin really with you? Put her on.”

  While I was asleep Kirarin must have been phoning everyone. But I couldn’t let on that I knew that.

  “It’s top secret, so I can’t say.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Terauchi said solemnly, “just put her on. That’s her phone you’re using, right? So is she alive? At least tell me that.”

  There was no way around it, so I handed the phone to Kirarin. She answered in that cutesy, friendly voice she reserves for phone calls.

  “Everything’s fine, Terauchi. I’m so sorry I made you worry about me. I’ve been going through some really weird times, I can tell you that. I called my parents and told them I was staying over at your place, so play along, okay? I’ll leave Worm after a while, so not to worry. He’s not dangerous at all, though kind of weird. Just a sec, I’ll put him back on. He said he wants your advice about something.”

  “My advice?!” Terauchi was pissed. “Listen, you’re threatening Kirarin, right? She’s a good kid, so don’t trick her.”

  “You’re the ones who’ve been tricked,” I said. “You know something? She’s pretty hot.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  Damn. I didn’t give a shit about these girls’ power relationships, their friendship, the kind of people they really were.

  “Forget about it. I want you to ghostwrite something for me. How about it?”

  “By ghostwrite do you mean a ghost story? Or maybe some horror story?” Terauchi said, trying to make a lame joke out of it.

  “Gimme a break. I want you to pretend you’re a boy who’s killed his mother and write a story about it. It doesn’t have to be long, but something that’s better than what that killer Sakakibara wrote. Sprinkle in some Dostoyevsky or Nietzsche or whatever. But do a good job of incorporating those, so nobody can trace the source. Then sort of wrap it up like ‘Evangelion.’ Or maybe—it might be better to make it all avant garde–ish, know what I mean? Philosophy of life, moaning and groaning about the absurdity of it all, like that. I’m counting on you. If a story doesn’t work out, then a poem’s fine. If you make it kind of incomprehensible and look cool then a poem might just do the trick. The kind of poem that they could use as evidence in a psych evaluation, that sort of thing. Something that hides my real intentions and confuses the reader.”

  Terauchi’s voice revealed her surprise.

  “You want me to do this?” she asked. “Why me? You going to pay me? It’s not worth it, even if you did. I mean, if they catch you then they’ll print what I wrote. If people think it’s well done, that doesn’t do me any good. You’ll get all the credit. If they don’t like it and it comes out that I ghostwrote it, then I’ll be in trouble. Serious trouble. So no matter how you cut it, it’s a lose-lose situation for me.”

  “But if it doesn’t come out that you wrote it and people think it stinks, then I’m the loser.”

  “Then why don’t you write it?” Terauchi laughed through her nose.

  “You idiot! If I could do that, I wouldn’t have to ask for your help.”

  “You really can’t write it, can you? What a joke. You’re one of those kids at K High at the bottom of the barrel, right? You got in okay but burned out in the process. Well, forget it, I’m too busy. I’m taking three summer school classes—English, classical literature, and geography. Summer’s a critical point for me, so why do I have to write your stupid manifesto? I have only five months left before entrance exams. They’re gonna put you in juvie anyway, so what does it matter? Yuzan told me you’re still saying stupid things like having to give up on taking the entrance exams for Tokyo University. You’re just trying to show off. Loony guys like you who kill their mothers are the pits, you know that? You’re still a child, but you’re oblivious to that fact. Killing your mom, running from the law—what’s the fun in that?”

  “There’s nothing fun about it.”

  “So why’re you telling me to write a novel for you? You should write a memo yourself. That would be much more interesting, from a criminal psychology perspective.”

  Terauchi didn’t sound like she was going to stop talking anytime soon. I wanted to tell her about how I transformed when I was riding around on that blazingly hot bike, but I didn’t think it would make any difference. So I decided to go on the offensive.

  “If you don’t write it for me, you can kiss your friend good-bye. I just bought a butcher knife a while ago. Killing one person or two—it’s all the same to me. I’ll see what it feels like to stab somebody.”

  Killing one person or two—it’s all the same to me. This clichéd phrase that killers use in movies wouldn’t leave my mind. Death is lighter than a feather.

  “Are you serious?”

  Terauchi let out an unexpected shout. Behind me, Kirarin was saying, “He’s lying! He’s just trying to scare you!” I shoved her out of the way. She fell down behind me but was still laughing this weird kind of laugh, like the whole thing was hilarious. Going all hysterical on me. I covered the phone as best I could so Terauchi wouldn’t hear. But Kirarin wouldn’t stop laughing, so I covered her mouth with my hand.

  “I might really kill her. My mind’s already messed up. And if you tell the police about any of this, it’s all over for her. Got it?”

  “Yeah, I got it. I’ll write it for you, don’t worry.” Terauchi sighed, giving in. “When do you want it by?”

  “It’s supposed to be something I wrote while I’m on the run, so try to do it quick. Within three days. If you can, e-mail it to Kirarin’s phone. I’ll copy it down and carry it around with me. That way if they catch me, I can show it to them.”

  “So can I write it like a bunch of memos?”

  “I told you already. Make it a story or a poem. Something creative.”

  “So it’d be cooler to have it not be something introspective?”

  Terauchi was one smart girl, and I thought about what she said. Something introspective would negate my whole battle. I gave her a command: “Fight to the bitter end!”

  “I got it. I’ll be a regular kamikaze.”

  She said this very coolly and abruptly hung up. That click sounded to me like the limitless contempt she had for me. Made me angry. But I’d gotten one task squared away, which made me happy. I looked down at Kirarin, who was still on the floor. Her hysterics over, she was looking away from me sullenly.

  “Lights out,” I said. “Tomorrow we’re going to rob a taxi to secure some funds.”

  I lay down on the bed but Kirarin stayed where she was, sprawled on the filthy carpet. It pissed me off, and I yelled at her.

  “What’s the matter? You planning to sleep there? What’s your problem?”

  “Nothing,” she said, an upset girl’s voice filtering up from the floor. But I was too starving to care. I’d had only a muffin in