TSKR Episode 11: Drip Painting Style
The one-shot is split into two parts and serialized in Ultra Jump, with the first published on April 19, 2022 in the "May 2022" issue, and the second to be published on May 19, 2022 in the "June 2022" issue.
Summary
Part 1
Rohan is working on Pink Dark Boy in his office as Bakin watches. Kyoka arrives and is impressed to see his drip painting style but points out that the way Rohan is doing it isn't improvised or random since he's precisely aiming the drops of paint. She offers Rohan café au lait and then pretends to spill some on his manuscript, before laughing that she's just kidding. However, she notices that Rohan is crying. Confused, Kyoka mentions that she thought the story he's working on has a happy ending. Rohan starts describing "Episode 11". It's the story of an investigation he did at a respectable person's home. Although he usually draws manga with the intention of providing hope to his readers, there isn't a single positive thing in this story. He warns the readers to be prepared for this dreadful episode.
A woman having an affair realizes how late it is already and decides to leave the hotel. The person she's with offers to take her home but she refuses. As she runs to her car in the parking garage, she's worried about what she just did. When she opens the car door, it hits the door of the SUV next to her and causes a dent. She also notices her stockings are torn up but she doesn't have time to buy a new pair. Her name is revealed to be Mitsuki Murase, age 37. Mitsuki starts panicking about how her husband will react, and fears he might already suspect something. She regrets going all the way to the next town and thinks her husband might check the GPS records. Taking a deep breath, she takes her wedding ring out of her bag and puts it back on her finger.
As she's driving back home, her phone rings. When she answers, her husband is relieved that she finally picked up. He exclaims everyone was trying to call her for over an hour. Their daughter Emma is crying because the kindergarten's closed and nobody is there to pick her up since Mitsuki has the car. Mitsuki lies that she lost track of time and got caught in traffic due to a roadblock. Her husband thinks that's suspicious because he's never seen any roadblock in their neighborhood before. Although it would take about 20 to 30 minutes for Mitsuki to get to Emma's kindergarten, she lies and says it'll take about 5 minutes.
Suddenly, Mitsuki notices a black creature with several spikes on its back just outside her car by the passenger window. She swerves her car and stops to take a look outside but there's nothing there. Her husband keeps trying to talk to her but Mitsuki doesn't respond. He says he'll go pick up Emma himself without the car and then they can talk at the kindergarten. He then hears birds cawing and asks where Mitsuki is. Mitsuki lies again and says those weren't birds but just the noise of her slamming on the brakes. She hangs up, saying she'll be there soon. Wondering what was near her car, she notices a "Watch for Animals!" sign. At first she thinks it might have been a boar but realizes it looked nothing like one. She stops worrying when she notices there's no damage to the car and starts driving quickly to reach the kindergarten.
Later, a car behind Mitsuki starts tailgating her. Mitsuki realizes that it's the same SUV she saw next to her in the parking garage, and wonders if they followed her all the way from the hotel because she dented their door. This causes Mitsuki to drive off the main road and head into the mountains. Wondering what their issue is, Mitsuki notices that their car door doesn't even have a dent nor scratches anymore. Furthermore, she has doubts about the SUV being white now because she thought the one she hit was gray. The mysterious driver speeds up and overtakes Mitsuki. Their passenger window then opens and someone inside takes out a fire extinguisher, pointing it behind them toward Mitsuki's car. Mitsuki's windshield is fully covered by its spray as she screams.
Appearances
Author's Note
Gallery
Ultra Jump May 2022
Next issue notice for Part 1
