Vampirzahn

Kapitel 13

Why did she do such a thing? This question filled Mariko's mind. Her thoughts drifted away, and she began to recall the past, wondering when she had become like this.

Mariko heard the sound of splashing water again. She vaguely remembered it; it seemed to be from a swimming lesson, but it wasn't. Faint noises drifted from afar, indistinct, and Mariko strained her ears. The noise grew louder and closer. It turned into a cacophony of shouts and cheers, accompanied by the splashing of water. The cheers grew even louder, almost shattering her eardrums. Suddenly, her vision opened up.

The air was fresh, the azure sky was as clear as water, and there was only one cloud in the sky.

Joyful shouts filled the air. Mariko and everyone else stood up, cheering loudly for the swimmers. The sound of splashing water pierced through the gaps in the shouts. Ah, right! She finally remembered. That day was the inter-class swimming competition. After the individual events, the competition moved to the final relay race. Each class sent three boys and three girls, alternating to swim twenty-five meters. This competition was the last event in the final swimming competition of elementary school, so everyone was extremely excited. When the fourth swimmer jumped into the pool, Mariko's class was in second place—although they were five meters behind the first-place class, they still had a chance to overtake them. The swimmers used freestyle strokes to sprint forward. Mariko and the other spectators all ran to the poolside and leaned in to cheer for the swimmers. Water splashed all over Mariko, but she didn't care at that moment. Mariko's class touched the wall, only a few seconds behind the swimmers in front. At the same time, a huge splash of water rose from the edge of the pool, and the fifth contestant jumped into the water.

The fifth and last female contestant was in the lead. The contestant from Mariko's class stayed underwater for five meters before surfacing. Looking closer, the gap between them and the first-place contestant had narrowed to three meters.

"come on!"

Mariko and her friend raised their voices together.

However, the gap did not narrow further, and the top two swimmers advanced at almost the same pace. The swimmers from Mariko's class had already swum nearly twenty meters, and the last swimmer could be seen standing on the diving platform, preparing.

"Mariko, look! That's Aoyama, the last swimmer from Class 1!" Mariko's friend nudged her with her elbow. Mariko was startled and looked towards Class 1's lane.

It really was him. Perhaps because he came swimming every Sunday, Qingshan's skin was tanned dark. He stood on the diving platform, waving vigorously at the swimmers from his class as they swam by, and shouting loudly, "Hurry, hurry!"

Suddenly, Mariko felt a sharp pain in her kidneys. She made a pained expression and placed her hand on her lower abdomen. The transplant suddenly flashed through her mind, something she had almost forgotten. The instant she saw Aoyama, her heart pounded. Mariko cried out, trying to shake off the kidney pain. Suddenly, she wondered where her class was ranked, so she looked across the entire swimming pool. Mariko was stunned—third place.

The splashing sounds rang out twice. The first-place class and the last contestant from Mariko's class set off one after the other. The cheers and shouts of encouragement grew louder and louder.

We're almost there!

The deafening shout came from Qingshan. He stood on the diving platform, half his body outstretched. The Class One athletes were still a meter or two away from touching the wall.

The leading swimmer and the mainstay of Mariko's team had already surfaced. After catching their breath, they began to paddle at the same time, with a three-meter gap between them.

Section 33

However, Mariko's gaze was fixed on Aoyama. Although she knew she should encourage her own team's athletes, Mariko's eyes remained fixed on Aoyama, who was shouting loudly from the diving platform. The first-team athlete touched the wall.

In that instant, Qingshan leaped out, seemingly jumping farther than anyone else. After tracing a graceful arc in the air, he plunged headfirst into the water, his fingertips parting the surface as he submerged completely. No sound was heard.

The green hills silently disappeared into the water.

Not only that, but even the surrounding sounds vanished without a trace. Mariko, her friends, and others were all shouting loudly, but to Mariko, it all seemed frozen, utterly silent. The scene before her was like a silent movie. Aoyama surfaced. After turning to his side to breathe, he plunged his left arm underwater, his left thumb entering first, and his body propelled forward.

Mariko then realized that Aoyama's fingertips were now roughly in line with the heels of her class's swimmers. Aoyama had instantly closed the distance between himself and Mariko's team. Mariko's throat was throbbing; overuse had made her voice hoarse. However, Mariko continued to shout, even though she couldn't hear herself, she still gave it her all. Mariko no longer knew who she was cheering for. She had originally intended to encourage her own class's sprinters, but only Aoyama was in her field of vision. Aoyama increased his speed. There wasn't much splashing around him, but with each stroke he moved closer to Mariko's team. The gap between them was only fifty or sixty centimeters. The leading swimmer passed Mariko, about five meters from the finish line. Mariko's team and Aoyama's bodies overlapped directly in front of Mariko. He had caught up! At that moment, Aoyama lifted his head above the water to catch his breath. In that instant, Mariko felt her eyes meet Aoyama's.

Mariko was stunned, and her kidneys started to ache. She completely forgot about cheering him on and just stared at Aoyama without moving.

The swimmers from the other classes who were in the lead touched the wall, closely followed by the second and third place swimmers who were neck and neck. Suddenly, the pool lights dimmed, and the sun disappeared behind the clouds. Aoyama touched the pool wall with his fingertips, a tiny bit faster than his opponent beside him.

With a "beep," the audience erupted in cheers. A cacophony of sounds flooded Mariko's ears like an avalanche. Everyone was raising their arms and shouting.

"Mariko, we only got third place," her friend jumped in and said.

Mariko cheered—she cheered with a laugh.

Aoyama is the class monitor of Class 1. Although not tall, he's very athletic. He has a cheerful personality and often tells funny stories to cheer everyone up. Mariko has never been in the same class as Aoyama before, but he's a well-known figure in the grade, so Mariko has known him for a long time. Since fifth grade, Mariko has thought Aoyama was quite handsome. Mariko hasn't spoken to Aoyama yet because he's very popular with girls; she often sees him chatting and laughing with several girls, so she hasn't found an opportunity to strike up a conversation. Mariko thinks that Aoyama probably doesn't even notice her.

Mariko naturally assumed that since Aoyama himself was an athletic man, his ideal type would be a healthy, lively girl who excelled in physical activities. As for herself, she had undergone dialysis and a transplant, and although she would be able to participate in some sports in the future, she couldn't be considered healthy by any measure. Add to that her short stature, the surgical scar on her abdomen, and the fact that she had to take medication daily, and she was truly sickly. Mariko hadn't held out much hope from the start. Nevertheless, Mariko still asked Dr. Yoshizumi about it.

"Doctor, I'm all better now, right? I'm not a patient anymore, am I?"

Mariko wanted to hear from Dr. Yoshizumi that she was not a patient.

However, the doctor's answer was quite different. The doctor warned that if Mariko were to be even slightly careless with her medication, her body would experience a severe rejection reaction, so she must never forget that she had undergone a transplant. Why did she develop such a strange disease as nephritis? At that time, Mariko absolutely hated her body.

Nevertheless, Mariko still felt a thrill when she occasionally brushed past Aoyama in the corridor. After school, Mariko would often deliberately pass by Class 1, casually glancing inside. Actually, the shoe lockers weren't in the same direction as Class 1, so Mariko would essentially walk a long way around the school building to get to the shoe lockers. When Aoyama wasn't in the classroom, Mariko would walk straight past him. If she saw Aoyama, Mariko couldn't contain her joy and would intentionally slow her pace. Later, this trick stopped working.

After summer vacation, in the second week of September, it's just the time when everyone is getting back into the relaxed atmosphere of the holidays.

That day, after school, Mariko went to check on Class 1 again. As usual, she slightly turned her neck and scanned the classroom with her eyes.

I didn't see Qingshan.

Just as Mariko, feeling somewhat disappointed, was about to leave, a strange voice came from Class 1.

"Anqi, what are you doing!"

Mariko was startled and stopped in her tracks.

Upon closer inspection, she saw two boys sitting on a desk in the classroom, grinning strangely at her. Besides them, there was hardly anyone else in the class; it seemed like they had just finished their evening extracurricular activities. "Why are you always peeking in?"

They were two male classmates from last year. These two guys often harassed and bullied girls, and Mariko disliked them a lot.

"It's none of your business!"

To hide her embarrassment, Mariko deliberately acted very angry.

However, this attitude unexpectedly provoked the two boys. One of them suddenly changed his tone.

"Don't think we don't know, you just like Aoyama, right? That's why you came here to peek!"

It's been exposed.

Mariko's face turned bright red. She wanted to say something in her defense, but her lips trembled and she couldn't utter a word.

"What a coincidence, Qingshan has already gone home. But someone as short and stout as you, he wouldn't like."

The two men gave a cold laugh.

Mako just wanted to leave as soon as possible, so she turned her body away.

Just as she was about to start running, she heard this sentence from behind:

"Hey, I heard her dad donated his kidney to her."

Mariko's feet were frozen in place.

"When her own kidneys failed, she put her father's kidneys into her body."

Why bring this up! It has absolutely nothing to do with Aoyama. Mariko wanted to cover her ears, but her body was already stiff and wouldn't obey her commands. Mariko really wanted to disappear from here immediately, but her legs wouldn't move. The two were talking animatedly, deliberately letting Mariko hear them.

"Like Frankenstein, right?"

"To survive, they actually need someone else's kidney, how disgusting!"

"It's a complete monster! Its belly is full of patched-up parts."

"I don't even know if she can pee."

The two of them chuckled as they talked.

The laughter buzzed and swirled in Mariko's mind. More than once, Mariko wanted to shout, "Enough! I'm not a monster, nor Frankenstein!" but the words stuck in her throat.

"Shut up!"

Mariko suddenly heard someone shout that behind her. Before the words were even finished, Mariko collapsed to the ground with a thud, her forehead hitting the floor, making her dizzy. Mariko saw several girls arguing with the two bullies, but her vision was blurry. She couldn't make out who they were at all. Mariko ran away.

"Mariko, wait!" Even though she could still hear a girl calling from behind, Mariko still rushed forward regardless.

That day, Mariko felt the distance from her classroom to the shoe locker was exceptionally long. She quickly changed out of her slippers and ran home without looking back. Mariko ran as fast as she could, without stopping for a moment. She was panting heavily, her stomach was cramping, and tears streaming down her face distorted the surrounding scenery.

As soon as she entered the house, Mariko threw away her medication. She took the pills out of the bag, tore open the packaging, and threw all the red and green capsules and tablets into the toilet. These were immunosuppressants she had brought back from the hospital. She turned on the valve, and the medication flowed down the drain with the swirling water, the gurgling sound of the flushing lingering in Mariko's ears.

Section 34

I am not a monster.

I am not Frankenstein.

Mariko squatted down in front of the toilet, buried her face between her knees, and tears streamed down her face. Mariko sobbed in the bathroom.

...After that, Mariko's body developed a rejection reaction.

She was immediately rushed to the hospital and admitted to the intensive care unit. A rejection reaction could have irreversible and serious consequences. Mariko remembered that Yoshizumi looked at her with disbelief. "Why didn't you take your medicine?"

Yoshizumi asked in a firm tone. But Mariko just wouldn't admit it.

"I ate it." Yoshizumi didn't believe Mariko's words at all.

"If that were the case, there would be no rejection reaction now."

"I did eat it."

"Don't lie. It was supposed to be a successful surgery, how did it turn out like this? Tell me honestly, did you forget to take your medication? Didn't I remind you time and time again?"

Yoshizumi sighed in despair. This detail did not escape Mariko's notice.

"The only solution now is to remove the implanted kidney."

Finally, six months after the transplant surgery, Yoshizumi said those words.

"The kidney implanted in Mariko's body has atrophied and will no longer be able to function."

Yoshizumi and Mariko, father and daughter, discussed their future plans. However, although it was called a discussion, it was mostly Yoshizumi speaking. He sat by Mariko's bedside, occasionally looking at her with a pitying gaze. Of course, this was just Mariko's feeling, but that's how it seemed at the time. Her father listened to Yoshizumi's words and only sighed repeatedly. Mariko felt that she had ruined her father's perfectly healthy kidneys, and she couldn't bear to imagine what he was thinking at this moment, yet she couldn't help but think about it.

The father was naturally angry because his daughter rejected his donated kidney, because she deliberately threw away the medication, causing the kidney, which had successfully taken root, to atrophy, and because the rejection was caused by his daughter herself. He must have felt utterly helpless with his daughter.

Wasn't Dr. Yoshizumi the same? He had finally achieved a successful surgery, spent a long time completing the treatment, only to have the foolish patient's failure to follow medical advice cause all the damage to be done. He must have thought the child was too disobedient. Absolutely.

Mariko closed her eyes. Sometime later, the low humming stopped.

Mariko couldn't fall asleep. The heat outside seemed to seep into the room. She tossed and turned in bed, the bed creaking and groaning intermittently.

If she doesn't get infected, she'll be able to be discharged soon. Mariko imagined what the future would hold.

She didn't want to go back to school; the laughter of those two men still echoed in her ears. If she went back, she would inevitably be subjected to that kind of slander again sooner or later. The thought was unbearable for Mariko. She'd rather spend her life on dialysis than be mocked by them. The nurse would come tomorrow morning. She would definitely be carrying a white paper bag containing capsules and tablets—immunosuppressants.

What would happen if I didn't take the medication?

Mariko suddenly remembered this problem. She could pretend to take her medication, but actually hide the pill next to her back molar. Then, when the nurse wasn't looking, she could spit it out and tuck it under the mattress. No one would know she hadn't taken her medication. This way, her body would have a rejection reaction. The transplant would fail, everything would return to normal, and no one would call her a monster or Frankenstein anymore.

In the sweltering heat, Mariko's thoughts gradually became blurred, her half-asleep, half-awake mind pondering what would happen after the transplant failed.

A soft "tap" came from somewhere.

Mariko was startled and immediately perked up her ears. She held her breath and listened carefully for almost a minute, but heard nothing.

Maybe I was just hallucinating.

Mariko breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the ceiling. The lampshade cast a dark shadow on the dimly lit wall.

When Mariko heard that a matching dead kidney had been found, her mind went completely blank.

The sudden fact that she had to transfer the contents of a dead person into her own body was something Mariko couldn't accept.

Lately, I keep having the same dream. A "pattering" sound comes from afar, as if someone is slowly moving forward, walking towards Mariko's hospital room.

Mariko couldn't escape. For some reason, she was trembling with fear and couldn't sit up. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to burst, and she could feel a pulse in her lower abdomen—the transplanted kidney was moving inside her, its joyful pulse as if it were welcoming something new.

The footsteps stopped in front of Mariko's hospital room. A moment later, the doorknob began to turn slowly.

Mariko always wakes up with a start the moment the door opens.