Mushi to Medama

The Original Sin. The first transgression humans made against G.o.d. The sin that Adam and Eve committed still has not been forgiven. As their children, we still bear the burden of that act. Pain is the method for humans to redeem themselves. It was all the fault of those long dead ancestors. It doesn’t matter who the person is - men, women, the elderly, children, the sick, the healthy, the wealthy, or the poor; pain is a part of everyone. “Believe in religion and you shall be saved!” Do it so religion can flourish! Preying upon people’s fear and hardship to force them into believing is underhanded. That’s called a bad deal. Believing in religion only helps out after you’re dead, anyway. There’s no reason to believe in it while you’re still alive.

“Sensei, what exactly was the Original Sin?”

“Hmm. You asked a question when you don’t understand, milady. How splendid! Everyone should learn from her! As for the answer, G.o.d, an almighty being that created all the creatures in the world, also created humans to rule over them. G.o.d saved humans for the last, using soil and a rib from His own body to construct two humans, a man and a woman. He charged these two humans, Adam and Eve, with tending an utopia called the Garden of Eden. He also gave them one warning. They could eat any of the fruit growing in the Garden save for that of the apple tree in the middle. Eating the fruit from that tree would result in death.”

“Was the fruit poisonous then?”

“No, it wasn’t poison. Do you know ‘Nutgall’? It was a story about a monk who showed the younger monks a bottle and told them it contained that poisonous plant nutgall. Naturally, that meant it must not be eaten. However, it wasn’t nutgall in the bottle at all, but the monk’s stash of candy. The young monks figured it out fairly quickly and ate all of his candy. After he found out, the monk swore his head off.”

“Is that a joke?”

“Everything like that is a joke. The original story probably went a lot differently, but the basic gist is the same. The fruit of the apple tree in the Garden of Eden wasn’t poisonous. It was supposed to be only for G.o.d Himself. There are several different theories as to what exactly the fruit was. Some say it enabled humans to distinguish between right and wrong. Others say that it granted wisdom, or even immortality. No matter what it was, the fact of the matter is Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was meant for G.o.d. That is the original sin, a sin of theft. You could probably even argue that it was false testimony as well. In any case, Adam and Eve committed the ultimate sin of betraying G.o.d, and that sin has still not been forgiven to this day. Just what was this “Apple” that G.o.d treasured so much? Despite how interesting that question is, I’ll lose myself to my thoughts if I dwell on it, so we’ll leave it there for today."

Ethics was the fourth cla.s.s of the day for Year One, Cla.s.s B. Sakaki Guryū, who had taken over teaching for all subjects in this cla.s.s, briefly went over the establishment of Judaism. Sakaki had taken this all upon himself solely so that he could spend as much time as possible with Usagawa Rinne. He got this by bullying his way through the school because of his family. In modern j.a.pan, which embraced equality but also commercialism, one wouldn’t be discriminated against because of what family they were from. However, money still talked so n.o.body was going to challenge the Sakaki Organization just for the sake of being equal. The Sakaki Organization had the financial weight to outcla.s.s the j.a.panese budget. As Sakaki Guryū was that organization’s heir, it was his right to use that power as he saw fit. And besides that, this high school – Kannonsakazaki Private High School – was funded by the Sakaki Organization. Comparing the school to a business, Sakaki would be the CEO’s son. With that kind of leverage, there wasn’t anyone stupid enough to challenge his whims.

It was the same with students as teachers.

However –

“Hey you, girl with the sinister-sounding name. Don’t fall asleep!”

"Bam!" Sakaki slammed his book down upon the desk of the girl that was not only sleeping, but also snoring as if she were taunting him. She was dead asleep with her head resting on her arms. Not only that, but she’d been like that since the first cla.s.s of the day. No student had ever slept in his cla.s.s. Sakaki’s pride had been significantly wounded. Not one that had a lot of patience to begin with, this pushed him way over the line.

The cla.s.s grew quiet. Ever since the ‘The 15th November Incident,’ the students had been very interested in the relationship between Sakaki Guryū and the person sleeping right now – Gankyū Eguriko. The mundane school life, that peaceful time where nothing happened, had suffered a wrench being thrown in the mix in the form of that girl. Just what move would the ultimate perfect teacher make next?

Sitting next to Gankyū Eguriko, or “Guriko,” Usagawa Rinne pecked on the girl’s head with her finger. It was an uneven and messy head with a ma.s.s of hair cut like a wolf’s. With her lying on the table she looked like a pile of hair. In contrast, Rinne was very clean and neat, with short hair that didn’t even go down to her shoulders. These two seemed to be on good terms lately. If Rinne were to say something, Guriko would at least listen to her.

“Guriko-chan, Guriko-chan, get up.”

A clear and carrying voice with a melodic tone like a bell. That was Usagawa Rinne’s beautiful voice.

“Sensei looks like he’s a bit angry. It’d be best if you get up now!”

“So noisy!”

Guriko stayed how she was and declared without moving, “I sleep when I want to sleep. It doesn’t matter to me whether the sensei is angry or the world gets destroyed. Sleep is the greatest happiness I get. Don’t worry about it. I learned a long time ago to sleep with one eye open. Just like the last time you got jumped by the Mushi. Despite being asleep, I still knew about it.”

“Hmm…”

“…Therefore, there is absolutely no problem with me sleeping in the cla.s.sroom. You can blame the teacher with the fancy name, who looks down on my name. I don’t even want to see his face, which is why I am sleeping through cla.s.s. You got a problem with that?”

“I do have a problem with that. It is extremely impolite to not listen to the teacher and sleep all day.”

Sakaki had been there the entire time. Making a slight thud, his merciless fist made contact with Guriko"s head. Even she had to get up, rubbing her head. She stared at Sakaki.

“What?! Why did you hit me? Even if I can’t feel the pain, my head still responds to the impact. Now I"m wide awake. How are you gonna repay me, sensei?!”

“It’s ‘Sakaki-Sensei’. Anyways, you’re not allowed to sleep during my cla.s.s.”

Sakaki’s words came out haughtily. An angry look fell upon Guriko’s face.

“You didn’t even say you were sorry! I’m p.i.s.sed. You remember that, Sakaki.”

“One day I’m going to gouge out your eyeb.a.l.l.s,” Guriko muttered quietly to herself.

During lunch break on Friday, November the 26th, Sakaki was eating the lunch Rinne made for him. He noticed Rinne, who sat in front of him, looking rather fidgety. So he asked her, “Are you well, milady? Does your stomach hurt?”

When asked this, Rinne lifted her head to look at Sakaki. She wasn’t eating her lunch because of her loss of appet.i.te again. She hadn’t eaten for about ten days. She had been to the doctor, but they chased her out when they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She hadn’t lost a single pound and continued her energetic lifestyle, completely oblivious of his worries. This was a completely incomprehensible phenomenon. A mystery that modern science couldn’t explain, Sakaki didn’t understand it any better. All he could do was accept that it was supernatural and gave up on finding a rational explanation.

Rinne suddenly looked away and displayed a rare expression of hesitation.

Sakaki was a bit disturbed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um…”

With that pretty voice that Sakaki adored, Rinne asked fearfully, “sensei, do you dislike Guriko-chan?”

“Hmm?”

What did she mean by that? There were a hundred ways of answering the question. However, he always answered her truthfully, so Sakaki told the truth without hesitation.

“I don’t like her and I don’t dislike her… honestly, I just feel guarded around her. I still don’t know what she is. In many ways, she’s very inhuman. More than that, though, I don’t know her intentions. Just for harming milady, she’s already beyond forgiveness. Also, her personality is so self-centered it always feels like she’s looking down on me, which really gets on my nerves. There’s no way I’d be able to get along with her.”

“Is that so…”

Rinne’s expression was slightly at a loss.

“Then sensei, didn’t you once say that Guriko-chan arrived at this school in order to trick me? You said she was getting in close so she could pull something–”

“I didn’t say it like that–”

“you did sensei!”

In a rare show of anger, Rinne said, “It’s just that Guriko-chan isn’t good with people. I think she actually wants to get along with sensei. Despite the fact she killed me and that mess with the lunches, she must have some reason that we don’t know about. Guriko-chan would never want us to be unhappy! After living together with her, I know she isn’t a bad girl!”

“Milady is taking her side!!”

“Sensei is being paranoid!”

Rinne said loudly. This was quite an incredible reaction for her. She was apparently angry, and angry enough to yell at Sakaki at that. Sakaki felt his heart churn as he couldn’t figure out how he had upset her so. He just wanted Rinne to be safe. Couldn’t she see that? No, it definitely got through. Rinne wasn’t stupid. His intentions were reaching her, but it was still ticking her off.

Rinne kept her head bowed and continued, “I know sensei cares about me. I’m glad, and I feel like I owe sensei the benefit of the doubt, but still–”

All of a sudden, her tone became gentle and she pressed her hand on her forehead, like something had immediately calmed her down.

“– Aaa, no, I didn’t mean that… but sensei, I beg you. Please stop suspecting Guriko-chan. She definitely isn’t going to harm me again.”

“But how can you be so sure?”

Just how could she come to that conclusion? Why would she believe that so easily? That person has already killed you once, Milady Usarin. Killed you by gouging out your eyeball. How can you still believe such a horrifying demon?

Rinne had her head lowered for a long time, and said quietly, “sensei, Guriko-chan –”

It was a very sad sound.

“She cries all night! Tossing and turning while having a nightmare, she cries out, ‘I don’t want to live anymore! Kill me! Kill me! I want to die! I can’t take this any mooore! Kill me, kill me, kill me!’ She’s in anguish until dawn. It doesn’t look like she remembers it, though. I think the reason Guriko-chan sleeps all day must be because she can’t sleep peacefully at night… Sensei, do you think such poor girl is a devil that wants to kill me?”

Rinne’s shoulders were shaking. Although she didn’t cry, her heart seemed to.

Sakaki looked pained, but he still couldn’t trust Guriko.

“That is also – acting.”

“Something like that isn’t acting!”

“Something like that isn’t acting.” Rinne repeated, muttering as if she were talking to the air.

“… Don’t fight, it’ll attract the Mushi.”

A clear and pure voice that drowned out any other noise called across the room.

Rinne turned her head towards the voice, and Sakaki followed her gaze. Guriko, who disappeared a while ago, was pulling open the cla.s.sroom door with a squeak. She walked towards them.

As she did, she rambled on.

“The Mushi are everywhere. Even here in this cla.s.sroom. Those things will do anything to obtain their goal, so they’ll make their move at the first sign of weakness. Don’t fight. Your advantage is that your love is so strong, so don’t lose that advantage.”

“You’re the reason we’re fighting!”

“What?”

Surprise fell upon Guriko’s face. She then brushed away her bangs and stared at Sakaki with her incredibly colored eyes. It might be irrelevant, but this girl really wasn’t suited for a sailor uniform.

“You’re fighting because of me? Ah, you’re still hung up on that lunch thing? Sorry, but I had to do that to keep you two alive. On second thought, though, maybe I should have just let this guy die. Why did I save him? He’s clearly a loser.”

‘This guy’ and ‘loser’ were all unmistakably referring to Sakaki, because Guriko’s finger was pointing at him at the same time. Why did she say things to make him angry? It was the first time in Sakaki’s life that he’d been called a ‘loser’.

Rinne noticed that Sakaki was displeased, and a helpless expression showed up on her face.

“Guriko-chan, why did you say that? It’s better to be honest with yourself – I know you want to get along with sensei, so you shouldn’t say things like that!”

“Don’t –”

Guriko probably wanted to rebuke her with ‘don’t talk nonsense’, but Rinne was quicker and muted the girl’s words with her own angelic smile.

“I like Guriko-chan a lot!”

Rinne said naturally, “I want to be good friends with you, so don’t worry, I won’t hurt you! Sensei thinks the same way. I know it.”

Sakaki complained with a furrowed brow: “Milady, I still want to veto this speech of yours.”

“Sensei is so stubborn. Guriko-chan and sensei are really similar! Both of you are obviously good people, but became distant from each other since you can’t be honest to each other. That’s a pity! You two should really get along, but can’t because you’re both stubborn. How sad…”

Rinne’s face was still helpless, but she laughed as she spoke with a confident tone.

“Huh...?” “Yeah…?”

Her proclamation made the other two gape at her. Both of them had expressions like they were trying to think of how to deny the optimistic girl’s words.

The peerless Rinne noticed the two had on the same expression and thought, They are definitely similar! She then smiled gently.

They were memories, sad memories.

“… You’re expendable” – I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard those words. Yes, Mother, I’m expendable to you. Let the G.o.ds of plague and poverty fall upon me alone, sparing my family. Eat me if you must eat someone. I’m an adopted child anyways. If the family could no longer support the children, I’d have been sacrificed without a second thought.

If I’m going to die, let me die protecting my family!

It was a year of rampant sickness. Everyone was frail and weak. Their eyes were sunken in, and their skin was pale. For the rural countryside, which barely sustained life as it was, this disease was like a wave of death. Once a person got sick, the land died with them. For a poor village, this was a matter of life and death. My family, however, were robust people. As if it didn’t concern them, they turned a blind eye to the pestilence. However, I, who was much more susceptible, was locked up in a small stone-walled room. “Don’t come out! You’ll get sick!” Of course, it wasn’t out of concern for my safety they said that. Mother was afraid that after I caught the disease, I would pa.s.s it on to other people in the family. “You’re expendable.” Mother did say that. “It’s enough if you suffer, don’t bring us down with you.”

I know, Mother, I understand. Although my family treated me like dirt, they still gave me food to eat and a bed to sleep on. I knew if I asked for any more, G.o.d would punish me for being selfish. I liked the people in this family. If misfortune fell on them because of me, I’d have been very sad. It sounds pathetic, but that’s what I thought.

The stone room was wet, and the air was stuffy. I sat on the ice cold rock and fought against the chills. It’s so dark in here; I can’t even see my own hands. As if to chase away the cold, I hugged my knees and cried constantly.

It wasn’t that I feared the dark. It was that I was so very lonely.

Just how long had it been? I sensed something was wrong. I could hear a lot of commotion coming from outside of the room. What’s going on? Out of fear, I knocked on the wood panels blocking the entrance. Father, Mother, my elder brothers, what had happened to them?

A deep and gloomy voice I’d never heard before responded,

“Oh my, oh my, I was wondering where you might be. All along you’ve been locked up in that stone room!”

It wasn’t a man’s voice, but it wasn’t a woman’s voice either. It was a voice that unnerved the listener.

“Boom!” – the wood panels were easily broken. I could see the shadow of a person standing between me and the daylight. My body was shaking, and I took a few steps backwards. I then tripped on something and lost my balance, so that guy grabbed me and held me up with both hands, laughing.

“Alright, time to give it back!”

That’s what he said to me. A red glow was shimmering in that guy’s eyes, and he didn’t look human. My gaze shifted above his shoulder and I saw a terrible sight. Father with his neck broken, Mother with her belly split open, and my elder brothers piled upon each other on the floor. Everyone was dead. I screamed.

Uncaring of my screams, the red eyed guy remained gloomily silent.

He seemed to be looking for me. In order to find me, he’d killed my family just because they were in the way of his search. He’s such a… bad guy, he’s… horrible. And at that moment, that horrible bad guy was looking at me expressionlessly.

“Let’s confirm it first!”

A deep voice said right into my ears.

Then he grabbed my screaming throat.

My vision dimmed.

… It should have just been me. Father, Mother, my elder brothers, I’m sorry.

Opening her eyes, she saw only the endless sky. Narrowing her eyes due to the blinding light, her hand went to her neck unconsciously. The throat that should have been crushed didn’t even have a scratch on it. Such things had disappeared long ago.

“… So it was a dream.”

Gankyū Eguriko muttered as she laid face-up on the roof of Kannonsakazaki Private High School, watching birds and planes pa.s.sing above.

It seemed she had dreamed of the past while she was dozing. It was maddening – a distant memory of when she was still human. Back when she had a mother and father and brothers. That had been a millennium ago. A vague memory that she’d almost forgotten –

Three birds flew past with a whoosh. They flew in front of the sun, so all she saw of them were their shadows.

As she reminisced on the past, she murmured to herself, “Birds don’t change. They’ve kept their shape the entire time. Humans, on the other hand, have changed a lot. What about me – is there anything that’s different from back then? Of course there should be some changes. Back then I could easily laugh, I had things that were important to me, and I was happy. When did I begin to leave it behind, and when did I lose it?”

“How long am I supposed to live?” she muttered as she continued to watch the birds.

Three birds, creatures that lived by eating worms. They never stopped being birds. They were the same as all those years ago. I, however, had stopped being human long ago.

“Even three birds were reduced to two, and now I’m the only one left. It doesn’t matter if I’m alone. I don’t want Rinne to be a part of this, but the Apple had already rooted in her. It’s just like what happened to me – it’s too late. Whatever happens now is just going to lead to misfortune. Change into a bird, or die with humans…”

Teetering, Guriko stood up, her eyes still fixed upon the birds flying away into the distance.

“… It should have been fine with just me!”

Guriko repeated those words she so often said.

“Seeing that person’s crying face… it hurts too much.”

Guriko put her hand on her chest.

“But I must tell her the truth.”

She was used to being despised, and knew there wouldn’t be any reward for her actions.

The hours flew by as she sorted through letters and cleaned up her work area. Her shift over, Usagawa Rinne left the post office after saying goodbye to her co-workers. She enjoyed this job quite a bit. Despite it being a bit repet.i.tive, it got pretty fun after getting used to it. Also, everyone there was really nice. Checking her cell phone, she saw it was already after 8PM and the sun had already set. Rinne got on her bike, which parked behind the post office, and took off down the uneven streets, leaving little clouds of her breath behind her. It wasn’t too late yet, although there were very few people on the street and most of the shops had closed down. Occasionally there would be the stray pedestrian, waddling home from work with a weary expression on their face.

It used to be that Rinne would also be extremely tired after finishing work, but now she wasn’t even weary. With no appet.i.te, automatically healing any wound, and even losing fatigue; do I still count as a human? Thoughts like that were saddening to her.

Although she didn’t know what Sakaki thought of this, Rinne was rather puzzled herself. What kind of conspiracy did she get into? What was happening to her? Just who is Guriko-chan? She really wanted to know those things. This wasn’t something she took lightly. She seriously wanted to know the truth.

However, thinking about it wasn’t getting her anywhere. Despite studying what Gurkio-chan and the Mushi had said, she couldn’t figure it out. Whether it was a lack of imagination or just being plain dumb, the answer was out of her reach. Rinne was almost out of options.

The te-minute-long commute wasn’t long enough to think things through. Before she managed to organize her uneasy questions, Rinne was already home. Was Guriko-chan there already? It felt nice to have someone waiting for her in the house.

“I’m home!”

Rinne spoke as she opened the door and took off her shoes by the entrance. As she expected, she heard familiar chiptune music. Guriko-chan was sitting in front of the very large television that really stuck out from the rest of the room and was playing a video game. She was playing an old console that stores now sold really cheap. The system was only around 300 Yen and the games were just about 100 Yen. 400 Yen covered everything. The game she was playing was ‘Obake no Q-tarō".

The wobbling and adorable little Q-tarō wandered across the screen, but soon he hit the dog it was Game Over. It looked like Guriko-chan didn’t really know how to play video games. Considering she’d never seen any before, that was fairly understandable.

Without turning around, Guriko immediately started the game again and asked Rinne, “Did you have to work today too?”

“Mmm, I was at work.”

Rinne put her coat on a hanger and then sat next to Guriko, watching Q-tarō lose to the dog again. She really hadn’t gotten a grasp on the game yet.

Guriko’s face wasn’t happy.

“… This is pretty boring. I can’t win against the dog. The problem is I don’t have any attacks. How am I supposed to get past him, Rinne? Do you know?”

”…The instructions said that pressing A twice will make you fly, and pressing B will make you disappear. So, just use those two abilities… Aah, right there! Use the flying to dodge, ah – too bad!”

“Ahh…”

With a serious face, Guriko-chan played for a good while after that. Unfortunately, though, there didn’t seem to be much improvement. She finally gave up after a while and unplugged the system before turning to Rinne and looking at her.

“Rinne, I’ve given it some thought.”

“…Given what some thought?”

“I’ve been withholding the truth, but I’ve reached my limit.”

Guriko asked innocently, “Do you have the courage to hear the truth?”

Rinne didn’t speak a word.

“Once you know the truth you’ll probably curse your fate. But if you think you can take it, I’ll tell you. I’m afraid I’ll ruin your happiness. I don’t want to make you lose what you have with Sakaki by telling you this. But that’s a bit naïve. You’ve already received the Apple and as for knowing the truth, you have not only the right, but also the – duty.”

”Mmm…”

Rinne knew Guriko-chan’s expression was serious. She couldn’t be lying to her. As long as I say that I want to know the truth, she’ll definitely tell me. But – I’m so scared, there’s an irrational fear, as if Guriko-chan’s words would shatter the peace of this world. That was what her heart told her.

“Tell me.”

However, Rinne answered without hesitation.

”No mater how cruel the truth is, I hate to be in the dark like this. Tell me the truth, Guriko-chan. Rather than to be afraid of what I don’t know, I’d rather face the truth.”

“You’re really tough!”

Guriko smiled softly. It was a very natural smile.

“Will you believe me? No matter how cruel the truth I tell you is, you won’t yell at me and say that I’m lying to you but believe me?”

“I will believe you!”

“Thank you –”

Guriko-chan’s face turned serious again.

“– Then I’ll also believe in you, believe that you will overcome fate.”

It is said that once a human dies, they shall start on a journey. Some people go to gardens, some people go on a boat and cross rivers, and there are also those who keep walking on a long straight road. That scene is an illusion created by the brain, just like a dream. And in that illusion there is always a great tree.

Back when Gankyū Eguriko was still known as Yono (when Guriko left the village behind a thousand years ago, she also discarded the surname Yono), she tripped on a moss-covered rock and fell into the river while fishing. She swallowed a lot of water and hit her head hard. It almost killed her. She dreamt, then, of walking upon an uneven road and eventually coming to a giant tree filled with fruit.

“Wow, this fruit looks really good.”

She said that as she gazed upon the fruit of the tree. Compared to the unsettling scene around her, they appeared quite appealing.

“I don’t know who’s these are, but it shouldn’t hurt if I just take one, right? Father’s been beat down by the weather. He could use some of these fruits to get his strength back.”

It’d be pretty unique to use fruit instead of fish, anyways! Yono made up her mind and then climbed like a monkey up the large tree and plucked an apple that was low to the ground. She didn’t realize that she was dreaming, despite the fact that in reality she was floating in a pool of water at the foot of a waterfall, covered in blood and hovering on the edge of death.

“Hmm – I’ve never seen this kind of fruit. Is it good to eat? Well, I’ll try it. Just one can’t hurt, right? My tummy’s growling anyways.”

"Crunch”, Yono bit right into the red, ripe forbidden fruit. It was so yummy! Before she knew it, she had already scarfed it down. It had been the tastiest, most refreshing, and juiciest fruit she’d ever eaten. Yono was overjoyed. This was such a big discovery, she should bring some back to the family! So she stretched out her hand to pluck four more apples – and then she woke from her dream, returned to life.

As soon as she opened her eyes, the pouring waterfall was spraying right onto her face. She was floating in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall like a bobber, wobbling constantly.

“It was… a dream!”

Yono muttered. The sharp pain on her head made her eyes roll backwards a bit. Fortunately, the water wasn’t very deep, and she could stand in it. It wasn’t difficult to get back to the sh.o.r.e.

“So – I slipped while catching fish.”

Yono was frightened of the large amount of blood as she wrung her drenched clothes dry, on the verge of tears the entire time.

“I did – have a strange dream. What was that about?”

Yono thought about it for a while, then returned home and her mundane daily life. Soon she had forgotten all about that incredible dream. It was five years later when she finally thought of that dream again.

That forbidden fruit is called "Apple of Eden" or simply “the Apple”. Actually, it isn’t an apple at all, but is called that due to its appearance. Those who eat that Apple will be given the power of immortality, and they shall not die even if their head is crushed, their heart torn out, or even if they don’t eat or breathe. They won’t age and will live forever, be it hundreds or thousands of years. It is impossible for them to escape the curse of immortality. The fact that Guirko herself hadn’t grown up after living for over a thousand years was proof of this.

Guriko – Yono, ate the Apple while she was a child. However, the Apple doesn’t give a human immortality instantly. Should they die before the Apple takes root, they will still die. Actually, it was that gambit that led Guirko to try and kill Usagawa Rinne. Eternal life was a fate worse than death. Rather than letting the girl suffer, it was better to kill her quickly! That was her brand of cruel kindness. She truly acted out of pity. However, her plan failed. Rinne’s Apple had already taken hold, and even Guriko could not kill her.

The place the Apple takes root is in the soul and not the flesh, so the Apple can not be taken away no matter what happens to the body. They can also affect causality and bestow special powers like Guirko’s combat ability. That was the reason she could slip into the school so easily. It seems the more Apples a person has, the more powerful the effect. The reason Guriko has such extraordinary powers was due to the fact she has three Apples.

Three. That meant Guriko had once taken the Apples of two other people. However, it wasn’t stealing so much as receiving. Guriko had traveled with these two people, a man and a woman, for a very long time. Those two each had an Apple, and seemed to have wandered the world since a long, long time ago. They decided to travel with her after she saved them from the Mushi. Their families had also been slaughtered by the Mushi and they were left wanting answers.

But after seven hundred years, the mind of the woman deteriorated and she chose to end her life. She disappeared into nothingness after entrusting the Apple to Guriko. The man who loved her also lost the hope to live on, and he too pa.s.sed the Apple to Guriko, ending his journey. After that, Guriko lived for about three hundred years by herself.

Guriko didn’t have anyone she could entrust the Apples to, so she traveled around the world and fought the Mushi to avenge her family. The common enemy of all humans with Apples, the Mushi. In order to kill the other Apple holders in time, she sought them out while hunting the Mushi. It should have been fine with just her. The so-called immortality was absolute misery. She shouldn’t have eaten that d.a.m.ned Apple to begin with, Guriko thought. The girl who died a thousand years ago lived till now like this. Having lost what was important to her, she wandered through time waging her war against the Mushi.

Usagawa Rinne’s face paled at this truth that was beyond reason. She brought up a question heavy on her mind.

“The Mushi – what are they?”

“I don’t know.”

Guriko replied with sincerity. It was definitely a surprising answer.

Faced with Rinne, who was flabbergasted, Guriko’s face was apologetic.

“I really don’t know anything about those things. Even the two travelers who guided me seemed to not know much, only that those things are everywhere and they only move in order to take humans’ Apples. You seem to have been under surveillance for a long time, too. I started investigating here because this town has a lot of Mushi. Then I discovered you. That’s when all this started –”

Guriko ran her hand through her wolf-like hair and then said seriously, “But those guys are definite the enemy of those of us with Apples, and they’ll do everything they can to get them! I’ve come across two others that had Apples in the past. One was killed by the Mushi, the other had somehow had his soul extracted, leaving a corpse behind. After all, the Apple takes root in the soul. Once the soul is gone, everything is over.”

“Is the soul – something that can be taken away?”

“I don’t know, but I think there must be a way. The Mushi have definitely used some method to steal many people’s Apples.”

Guirko said that in an uncaring voice, although she had no idea what that method was.

Usagawa Rinne thought about the girl sitting in front of her. A lone soldier who had wandered the Earth for a millennium, Gankyū Eguriko. She’s so pitiful, and it must have been so hard, so painful!

Rinne hugged Guriko tightly.

Although Guriko complained, she stopped refusing it when she found that Rinne was crying.

“Guriko-chan…”

“Mmm.”

“You must be very lonely, in such pain!”

”Mmm –”

Guriko placed her head on Rinne’s chest, exasperated. The girl who died a thousand years ago had all her family killed, was unable to connect to anyone, and was parted from the companions she cared for. Even so, she never gave up and lived on. Rinne thought this was an amazing feat. Definitely one that deserved respect.

And also – one that was very sad.

Why did Guriko-chan have to endure this pain?

Rinne sobbed. This kind girl of sixteen years gave all her tears to the lonely girl who fought continuously for ten centuries. She pitied the girl and wanted to show her all the kindness she could. In order to even slightly heal Guriko’s scar-ravaged heart, she hugged her tightly.

Just like what Sakaki did for me last year, I want to give her the hope to keep living, Rinne thought.

Guriko must have understood that. Silently, she let Rinne hug her.

“… Rinne.”

A short while latter, Guriko murmured to her softly. Her words became a coa.r.s.e whisper as if she were suppressing her emotions. As if speaking those words wounded her deeply.

“You, too, can no longer die, now.”

”Mmm –”

Rinne murmured. Although she still couldn’t accept such heavy news, she could understand that she could no longer live as calmly as she had previously.

The world was no longer the same to her.

Guriko remained in Rinne’s arms, and said with a quavering voice, “So you have two choices. One is to live with me forever, and the other is to disappear after you give up your soul to the Mushi. There is no salvation either way, and I can’t tell if either will bring you any joy. You decide for yourself…”

Guriko moved away from Rinne a bit, and looked at her with innocent eyes.

“No matter what you choose, you will eventually lose Sakaki. Your life is endless, but his is not. One day, when Sakaki’s time is up, he’ll leave you behind and die.”

Rinne nodded. Her eyes were once again br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears, which slid down her cheek and dripped to the ground from her chin.

Then, a solemn expression appeared on Guriko’s face.

“If you wish, I’ll protect you two until Sakaki dies! No matter which choice you make, I’ll still do that for you. You can create happy memories with Sakaki and you can even stay beside him until he dies of old age. Then either travel with me or give your soul to the Mushi, it’d be up to you. I’ll help you the best that I can.”

“Let me think about it – a bit more.”

Rinne replied. She still couldn’t get her thoughts straight.

Guriko nodded.

“You can think about it for as long as you like… time is no longer an issue.”