Hello everyone! I decided to write a one-shot about what I think could be Otoya's past. I always tought that it was a shame that she didn't have a proper backstory in Akuma no Riddle, so I decided to invent her one. I hope you'll enjoy.
Warning: This story is rated M because of graphic violence. It contains allusions to torture, rape and animal cruelty. I do not approve any of those things, this is only a work of fiction.
ps: English isn't my first language, so it's possible that I made some mistakes. Sorry about that!
Takechi Otoya didn't understand what she did wrong. Why her classmates were mad at her? Some of them, especially girls, were even crying. And now the teacher was scolding her for a reason that didn't even make sense.
"Takechi-san, what have you done? You can't do something like that!" the teacher reprimanded.
Otoya didn't get it at all. What was the problem? She just crushed some bug on the floor.
"What I've done wrong, sensei?" she asked innocently.
"You killed that ladybug!" her teacher replied.
"…and? The other day you squashed a spider. How what I did is different?"
Otoya remembered it clearly. Her teacher crushed a spider that was walking on the wall with a book, because some of her students were scared of it. Otoya couldn't really understand how someone could be afraid of such a small creature. When she saw everyone gathering around the ladybug, Otoya thought that they might be scared of it too. After all, why a spider would scare them but not a ladybug? So she killed it, just like her teacher did with the spider.
"Your classmates liked that ladybug, that's the difference." the teacher answered.
Otoya was confused. They liked that bug? Then why were they scared of the spider?
"You're a monster! You killed the pretty insect!" a girl suddenly shouted.
Huh? She was a monster because she killed something pretty? So the life of this ladybug had more value that the life of the spider because she was prettier? What kind of logic was that? Why her teacher hadn't been called a monster when she killed the spider? The answer was because her classmates didn't like the spider.
It was the first time that Otoya realised that the value of life was subjective, and it happened when she was still at pre-school.
Otoya had been grounded by her parents. Their neighbors told them that their daughter beat their dog. Her parents were furious when they learned what their daughter did. They had to pay for the dog's treatment at the veterinary. So they grounded their daughter for at least one month.
Otoya didn't understand why they were so mad. They ate meat, which meant that they approved the murder of animals. So what's the big deal about beating a dog? At least she didn't kill him. This dog was yapping and grunting at her, so she kicked him couple of times. It was the dog's fault for being annoying.
She understood that dogs were domestic animals, which meant that people valued their lives more than chickens and cows, those were viewed as mere livestock. So it wasn't only with bugs and insects, humans also chose the value of certain animals in regards of their own preferences.
This event happened when Otoya began to attend elementary school.
Otoya didn't get along with her classmates in elementary school. She never did. They always viewed her as some kind of alien, so they usually ignored her. Otoya couldn't care less. She didn't like them either, but at least they didn't bother her.
One of her favorite pastimes was to find spiders, especially in the schoolyard. When she found one, she then tried to find some bugs and feed them to the spider. Otoya was fascinated by this tiny eight legged creature. The way it ate its prey was interesting to see. Spiders slowly ate their preys, which result as a long and painful death for the unfortunate insects that get caught in their web.
If she could, Otoya would like to reincarnate as a spider. This kind of life could be nice. But, if she became a spider, some idiot would probably squash her because she would be "ugly". Some people called a freak because she liked spiders. They even called her a creep when they discovered that she feed them bugs. Otoya didn't see the problem with that. Spiders needed to eat insect to live, they were predator. Ah, a predator life sure sounded nice.
When she was in fourth grade, she found a really big spider. For couple of days, she regularly brought it bugs and she enjoyed seeing it devoured it preys. But one day, one of her classmates, a little rascal, followed her and killed the spider. Otoya wasn't sad for the spider, in fact she didn't really care. She could still find another one. But she was quite mad at him. She knew that he killed it only to bother her.
So to make him payed, she hid a spiders' nest in his desk. The boy was so scared when he discovered it that he pissed in his pants. He became the laughingstock of the class. The teacher found our easily that Otoya was the culprit, but she didn't care. What she did worth the consequences.
Otoya then discovered that this boy was quite disliked by almost everyone even before (how could she knew, since she didn't get along with her classmates?). He was acting like a prick to everyone, so Otoya received some praised for what she did to him. Otoya was quite surprised by that, but it didn't bother her. She was in fact kind of pleased by that. Some of her classmates and even other kids began to hang out with her and called themselves her "friends".
Otoya didn't reject them, even if she didn't consider herself as their friend. She showed them how she feed spiders and they were quite interested by it, even if they didn't want to touch the spiders. But at least they weren't judging her so Otoya didn't mind. Those kids showed her what their favorite pastime was: bullying.
She must admitted, she kind of liked to be a bully. It made her felt like a predator. And those who called her a "friend" approved what she did and even help her. It was the first time in her life that people truly liked what she did and enjoyed doing it with her.
But everything changed in fifth grade. Otoya decided to bully a girl she found cute. She mercilessly bullied her. Otoya's "friends" didn't disapproved, but for some reasons they didn't help her. But they still laugh at each cruel thing she did to this girl. The bullying became even crueler, enough that the poor girl had to change school. Suddenly, Otoya became the most hated person in the class. It took her some time to realise that this girl was in fact quite liked by her classmates.
Those who pretended to be her friends abandoned her. Otoya became the target of bullying, but it didn't bother her. She knew that one day, she will do something even worst to all of them.
This day happened when she was about to finish elementary school. Their class had a pet hamster that was quite loved by her classmates. During lunch time, when no one was in class, Otoya sneaked inside, took her scissors, and severed the poor creature's head. She didn't have any pleasure when she killed this hamster, but she didn't feel any remorse either. But she did enjoy the horror and the pain she caused to her classmates when they discovered what happened to their beloved pet.
Her time at elementary school taught Otoya that is wasn't only bugs and animals that humans chose the value, but even between them. Bullying someone that was hated or ugly was praised, but if you bully someone who's popular and pretty, you'll be criticized. Once again, it proved her that the value of living things was subjective, but also that humans were a bunch of hypocrite.
Due to all the problems she caused in elementary school, Otoya's family had to move into another town. So, she knew no one when she began middle school. It was better this way. Nobody knew about her past, so she could have a new beginning. Otoya had understood that if she didn't follow the societal norms, she'll be hated and ostracized. Even if she didn't care what people thought of her, she didn't want to be beaten up and bullied again. So she tried to act "normal" and to not attract attention.
But with a turn of fate, Otoya became rather popular in her class. She realised that she was considered "pretty" by her classmates, therefore they wanted to get along with her. Otoya found them stupid, but of course she didn't tell them. She acted friendly with those who wanted to be her "friends" and tried to avoid being in trouble. She developed a fake persona to please everyone, she was acting as a playful and social girl. When she wanted to bully someone, she made sure that it was always a person that wasn't liked and she always did it in a discreet way. People usually thought that Otoya was only "teasing" them playfully.
Otoya fell for a girl. She was an upper classmate. Otoya wasn't sure if it was love, but she was surely attracted to this girl is a sexual way. When she confessed to this girl, Otoya was rejected. If it was only that, Otoya wouldn't care. But her crush didn't stop there. For some reason she felt the need to reveal to everyone that Otoya had a crush on her. Suddenly, Otoya's "friends" began to be distant with her. The girls avoided her, while the boys began to hit on her regularly.
Otoya then realised that no matter how much you tried to fit in society, if you did only one thing that people disapproved, you'll be rejected and judged. This time, Otoya was really angry. She wanted to make this kill suffer, she wanted…to kill her. Otoya didn't care about the consequences, this girl hurt her, and she was going to pay. When she got her hands on her old crush, Otoya beat her severely. She would have strangled her to death if a teacher didn't stop her. The girl ended up in a hospital. Otoya never felt so much pleasure in her life, beating up a person she was attracted to had been quite enjoyable.
Her parents were beyond furious. They wanted to send their daughter in a youth detention center for juvenile delinquents. Otoya didn't want to, so she ran away from her home.
Life wasn't easy in the street when you were a young runaway teenager. But Otoya managed to survive. She found refuge in a shelter for youngsters. She succeeded to get along with the other people there, especially with one girl. She was slightly older than Otoya, and quite beautiful. Otoya even told this girl her past, and despite that, she didn't judge her. It was the first time that Otoya felt like she found someone who she could call a true friend.
"Otoya-san…I think that I might be in love with you." the girl had confessed.
Otoya wasn't sure how to react. She didn't know if she was in love with her. But when she remembered what her old crush did to her, Otoya decided to accept this girl's confession and to go out with her.
It could have been great, but unfortunately, Otoya's past came back to bite her. When she slept with her girlfriend for the first time, Otoya recalled the girl she used to have a crush on. Without realising it, Otoya's hands grabbed the girl's neck and began to strangle her.
"O-Otoya…please…stop…" her girlfriend pleaded.
But Otoya couldn't stop. She needed to do this. The fact that she didn't succeed to kill her old crush left a void in Otoya's heart, a dissatisfaction that she desperately need to fulfil. Unfortunately, it was her girlfriend who fulfilled this need. Otoya released her neck when she realised that she was dead.
She had killed someone. Otoya didn't hate her, quite the opposite. But surprisingly, she didn't feel remorse. She felt in fact quite aroused. Killing this girl brought her pleasure, sexual pleasure. Otoya giggled manically when she understood what it meant.
"The value of life is subjective, which means that people's lives don't matter. Humans give value to the lives that please them. I'm not really different. It's just that in my case, it's not their lives that I value, but their death. As long as it brings me pleasure, there's nothing wrong to kill. After all, no life matters to me."
Of course, Otoya had to leave the shelter. This is when her life as a murderer began. In order to satisfy her need to kill and to support herself, Otoya decided to target older women. If she succeeded to get invited in their house, she could kill them and benefit of everything they had in their house. And also, Otoya was more interested in mature women.
Otoya once met a young woman who was a florist. She exclaimed to her that flowers needed to be cut after they bloomed, otherwise they'll fade. Otoya found it really interesting. Flowers had only values when they were pretty. The serial killer considered that it was the same things with humans. Just like flowers, humans grow old and became less attractive and fade. Otoya concluded that killing pretty girls was in fact doing them a favor. At least they died when they were still pretty. Their prettiness was the only things that gave them more value in the eyes of others anyway. Since the florist was really pretty, Otoya killed her with her own scissors. She then decided to keep them.
To trick her targets, Otoya whether tried to befriend them, seduced them, or just pretended to be a homeless girl and make them have pity of her. Whatever the trick she used, the goal was always to be invited in their house and be alone with them. And then she killed them. She usually stole some objects after, like food, money, clothes, stuff that could be useful to survive. Sometime she even kept a souvenir from her victims.
At first, she killed her targets after she slept with them. It was usually consensual sex. If her target wasn't interested to sleep with her, Otoya usually killed them when they were the most vulnerable, for example when they were taking a shower or sleeping. But after a few murders, Otoya began to want to have sex with all her targets, regardless if they wanted it or not. But whether she raped them or not, Otoya usually killed them with one strike, either a stab in the heart or she sliced their throat.
But it began to not be enough to satisfy her urge. Killing wasn't enough to give her sexual pleasure. She wanted her victims to suffer before they died. She then remembered her fascination for spiders. She realised that she could be like them, a predator, someone who "eat" her preys slowly and painfully.
She still used the same tricks to get invited into her preys' house. But now, she didn't kill them quickly. If her prey was willing to sleep with her, Otoya began by having consensual sex with her, before finding a way to restrain her and slowly killing her. She discovered that the weapon that excited her the most was her pair of scissors. When her prey refused to sleep with her, Otoya proceeded to beat her enough to make her unable to defend herself. She then tied her up, raped her, and then slowly tortured her to death. She sometimes used sleeping pills to trap them more easily.
The tortures became even more cruel and sadistic gradually as she killed. She even began to torment them psychologically, by mocking them for having fallen for her tricks. She humiliated them when she raped them, she ridiculed them, and she made sure that their death was the most painful as possible. Like a drug addict, Otoya needed to be gradually more sadistic at each murder to be satisfied. Now she could only have sexual pleasure if she ripped her preys apart. If she once had the slightest humanity in her, Otoya was now completely inhumane. She became the monster that people viewed in her since she was a child.
Unfortunately, when you're a notorious serial killer, you became a target for the police. Otoya even gain the name "Jack the Ripper of the 21st Century" due to her extreme cruelty. She kind of liked that name.
Otoya met a high school girl who was living alone in her apartment. A perfect prey for her. Otoya succeeded to "befriend" her and to be invited in her apartment. The poor girl didn't see the threat coming. She ended up tied up on her bed and forcibly undressed by the serial killer. Otoya raped her and forced her to reach the climax just to humiliate her prey. She then stabbed her limbs, avoiding the vital areas, just to make sure that her prey won't die too soon. Her screams of pain were music to her ears. When her prey's arms and legs were all bloody, Otoya proceeded to stab her in the belly and disemboweled her. The poor girl screamed in agony, before finally dying, which allowed Otoya to reach orgasm. Otoya stole her school uniform as a souvenir, and also because she liked it.
But this murder was what put Otoya in deep trouble. This girl was a relative of an inspector. This man became obsessed to arrest her. But fortunately for Otoya, she was invited to attend Class Black in Myojo Academy. All she had to do was to kill a girl before her classmates, who were all assassins, and she could have a wish granted. What Otoya wanted was a serial killer insurance, so she could be free to kill as many people she wanted.
The target, Ichinose Haru, was really cute. Otoya saw no problem with killing her. All she needed to do was to kill this girl and she will have no more problems with the authority.
Then she met her roommate, Kenmochi Shiena. This girl really had a grudge against bullies. Otoya wouldn't say that she was her type, but she was kind of cute in her own way. The serial killer really liked to tease her, but surprisingly, she didn't want to kill her.
She then realised that Shiena was a girl with a "pure heart". Otoya met few people like that in her life. Those people were treating everyone in the same way. All lives mattered to them. For some reason, it made Otoya uncomfortable. If a girl with a pure heart was also her type, she would have no problem with killing her, and if it was an ugly girl with a pure heart, Otoya wouldn't lose her time with her. Ugly people didn't interest her.
But Shiena was neither ugly nor her type. She was just plain and kind of cute. Otoya didn't like this situation. She wished that she could just kill her and get rid of her, but she couldn't. She lacked the need to kill. When she saw the brunette, all she wanted to do was to tease her.
Otoya concluded that eventually, Shiena will become her type. All she had to do was to wait for the brunette to grow up and become more attractive. Then the disturbing feeling in her chest when she looked at Shiena will finally disappear. Shiena was just a flower that didn't bloom yet.
During the night, Otoya approached from Shiena's bed and watched her roommate slept. A sinister smile appeared on the serial killer's lips.
"Hurry up to grow up to become a beautiful woman Shiena-chan, so I could finally kill you."
Originally it was supposed to be a chapter in another story of mine, Bully & Bullied (the remake), but I decided to make it a one-shot instead, since it's focus majoritarly on Otoya's past. You can view this story as a prequel for Bully & Bullied. It was supposed to be a short story, but it ended up longer that what I expected.
I always wonder how Otoya ended up to be a serial killer. I view her as a sociopath, and I think she's too impulsive to be a psychopath. Usually from what I understood sociopaths aren't born this way while psychopaths are. They both have a lack of empathy but psychopaths doesn't have emotions while sociopaths can. I heard that sociopathy could be genetic, but they only develop it due to their environement. Honestly, I'm not a specialist, so I could be wrong. But I view Otoya as someone who's born with the predisposition to be a sociopath and became one due to some life experiences. This is what I tried to represent in this story.