Magami Nanakuse is the seventh chapter of Ma no Kakera.
Plot[]
Magami Nanakuse (whose name means "Seven Habits" or "Seven Quirks" Magami) is an admired author with a cult following. She is known for giving her characters bizarre quirks, and writing about habits and compulsions. Aspiring novelist Kaoru Koroketsu becomes obsessed with Nanakuse and her books. She sends a fan letter and is stunned when Nanakuse replies with an invitation to meet her.
Kaoru goes out to Nanakuse's home in a secluded mountain area; ignoring ominous warnings from Nanakuse's assistant who comes to pick her up at the bus stop. However, Kaoru's shocked to discover that Nanakuse is a loud-mouthed, mean-spirited transgender woman. Nanakuse yells at her, saying Kaoru is mediocre and does not have enough quirks. Kaoru is so terrified that she wets herself, and Nanakuse laughs at her. Later, Nanakuse calms down and offers Kaoru a drink. Kaoru cannot stop herself knocking back shots, and gets steadily drunker, eventually passing out. Nanakuse has her assistant throw Kaoru into a dungeon under the house.
Nanakuse attends a dinner party with local residents, revealing she moved to the area because it's a past site of executions and is believed to be haunted. She begins to demonstrate bizarre movements such as shaking her head and sticking out her tongue; the others at the party are all compelled to imitate her. Kaoru wakes in the dungeon, where she sees dozens of others locked up. Each of them displays a single, repetitive movement over and over. Nanakuse arrives and explains that they have all lost their sanity from being imprisoned for so long. She has waited for one of them to exhibit some kind of unique trait, but so far none have. Nanakuse expresses hope that Kaoru will demonstrate a quirk for her to write about in her next novel.
Kaoru begins to scream and panic, eventually going insane from her surroundings and the repetitive movements of those around her. She feels her face and body going rigid. Several days later Nanakuse enters the dungeon to find that Kaoru has assumed a bizarre, outstretched pose facing the wall. She is now incapable of movement and her face has hideously warped and mutated. Nanakuse is thrilled, and declares that it's the most extreme "quirk" she has ever seen. She is overcome with inspiration and writes a new book, Ultimate Quirk, about Kaoru. Nanakuse gives Kaoru's body as a "present" to the local residents' association at another dinner party.