Apartment Complex Strange Tales: The Boundary Between Funeral and Rebirth, Episode 15: The Whereabouts of the Torrential Rain and the Bright Red Seven

#Creative Awards2026
#Fantasy Novel Category

◇ Introduction to the Novel
Set in the apartment complex where I spent my childhood in the late Showa era and its surrounding areas, I am weaving this into a fantasy novel, interweaving memories of cats, cars, and the gadgets of that era. Please join me on this journey.

Click here for the synopsis, table of contents, and character introductions

The bright red Seven was being chased by a pitch-black modified car.
What on earth is going on?

Was Senior Shinkai still at the apartment complex?

In the torrential rain, the Silver Wolf chases after multiple tail lamps.

The modified car looks like a first-generation Prius. Why would they choose to modify a fuel-efficient mass-market car of all things? I suppose there are plenty of used ones around, so parts aren't an issue. Ugh, none of that matters right now.

The bright red Seven, believed to belong to Senior Shinkai, is speeding along the outer perimeter road of the apartment complex. Five modified Priuses are in pursuit. They are cornering the Seven while swerving into the oncoming lane. It's like a pack of wild dogs.

Fortunately, due to the torrential rain, I haven't encountered any other regular cars.

As I cut through the outer perimeter road of the apartment complex, I slipped the Silver Wolf alongside the modified cars and managed to catch a glimpse of the figure driving the Seven and a black cat in the passenger seat.

Is that Tom?
Why is he in Senior Shinkai's car?

At the intersection by the office corner again. The moment I thought that, the tail slid, and I was separated from the Seven and the group of modified Priuses.

Damn it!

I opened the door to check the sidewalk-side wheel to see if the Silver Wolf had any damage. Just as I thought it was okay, a black shadow jumped from the grass of the playground into the driver's seat.

Tom!

It was definitely Tom.
He was soaked from the torrential rain, but he looked straight up at me.

Wait, then who was that black cat...?

Meow!

Tom let out a high-pitched cry, as if to say that none of that mattered.

I understand!
Let's get back on track and chase after the Seven and the modified Prius gang together.

I sat Tom in the passenger seat and fastened his seatbelt.
As I accelerated the Silver Wolf, I saw the group of tail lamps blurring in the torrential rain.
The Seven turns left onto the outer perimeter road.

Turning left, the situation worsened. The lane was blocked by several dump trucks. There was no choice but to force an overtake into the oncoming lane.

Senior, keep going and get us out of here!

However, a dump truck suddenly swerved into the oncoming lane without signaling! Unable to help it, the Seven turned right and sped onto the public road circling the apartment complex.

The modified Prius repeatedly cornered the Seven. The way it dodged them could almost be called magnificent.

As expected of Shinkai-senpai! Your skills haven't dulled at all.

The Seven and the Prius continued to accelerate. The Silver Wolf chased after them, refusing to be outdone.

Before we knew it, we had reached the Inuwatarigawa River.
The water level is incredibly high.

The muddy torrent is rising right up to the edge of the embankment road.
Just before the apartment complex bridge, the Seven turned left and plunged onto the embankment road, inches from the muddy torrent.

The modified Prius also turned left without hesitation, following the Seven in a single line along the embankment road. The Silver Wolf pursued them, determined not to fall behind.

We raced to the Inuwatari Bridge downstream in an instant.
Cars can't cross the wooden Inuwatari Bridge. Besides, it looks like it's about to be swept away by the torrent!?
That leaves turning left to move away from the river, or going straight.

But beyond that, the river has burst its banks? With the heavy rain and the swirling torrent, I can't even see the land!

The land is low downstream; I remember it often flooding.
The rice fields on both sides of the river turn into a sea, and I recall the poultry farm downstream frequently suffering damage.

Plunging in there would be hopeless.
But is this a game of chicken? The group of the Seven and the Prius won't ease off the throttle!

Senior! Stop!

I thought I had caught up, but the multiple taillights were washed away by the heavy rain.

Reaching the Inuwatari Bridge, I slammed on the brakes instinctively.
Just in time to avoid being swallowed by the burst, muddy torrent.

In the muddy torrent, a few red lights flickered by.
I saw the Seven's sunroof open.

Shinkai-senpai!

In the pouring rain, I didn't care about getting wet as I stuck my head out of the driver's seat and shouted.
I saw a black cat leap from the roof, which was swaying in the torrent, and fly toward the modified Prius.

And then, just as I steeled myself to drive the Silver Wolf into the torrent, a white wave came crashing toward us.

Oh no! It's sinking!

The moment I opened the roof, thinking it would sink as it was, I realized what the white waves really were. It was a swarm of countless white Leghorn chickens.

The Silver Wolf was actually held back by the wave of white chickens.
And then, just as it seemed the Seven would sink into the muddy torrent.
Tom, who had been watching the race intently from the passenger seat, let out an incredibly high-pitched, scream-like sound.

Meowwww!

Stunned by that sound, and perhaps because my body had grown cold from the freezing downpour or because the thread of extreme tension had finally snapped, I was enveloped in the warmth of the chickens filling the seats and, regrettably, lost consciousness.

The next morning, I woke up to clear skies, as if the typhoon had passed. The Silver Wolf was wedged against the railing of the Inuwatari Bridge. The chickens that had been there in such numbers were gone.

That afternoon, the mud-covered Silver Wolf was towed to the office parking lot. It would take some time to fix.

That was a dream.

I heard from Tomie that Shinkai-senpai had disappeared from the office a few years ago. The section chief didn't say anything.

That Seven couldn't possibly have been Shinkai-senpai's.

If so, who was driving the Seven that was being chased by that modified car?

Was I dreaming...

I walked in a daze until I reached Inuwatari Bridge.

The Inuwatari River had burst its banks, and the levee had collapsed. The muddy torrent that had spilled out eroded the fields, and the sediment carried along buried everything. As a result, the boundary between the rice fields and the river had vanished.

I can't believe this happened.

The landscape had been completely transformed by a single night of torrential rain.

I stepped into the sediment. Clear streams, like flowing sand, were running in multiple channels. Amidst this surreal landscape, thoughts came and went.

Could it be that Shinkai-senpai called me...

I saw a large puddle on the accumulated riverbed. A black mass stood upright there. Even covered in mud, I could read the characters for 'Red Seven'.

Cracked black glass... it was the rear window of Shinkai-senpai's Seven.

Click here for the table of contents

▶Episode 16 Preview: "The memories in my eyes continue. Can I get closer to Senior Shinkai's plan? What is Plan B?" Will be posted on Friday, July 10th.