Mushi to Medama

Chapter 2

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Night 2: The 15th November Incident

There was nothing that was important to her.

Maybe there had been, but that was in the past. She didn’t remember anything like that.

A millennium – far too long a time to live, yet too short a time to go insane. Happy memories - joy, hopes, dreams; all of these warm and gentle feelings had been gradually stolen by the pa.s.sage of time, till the only thing left was a cold and empty void. Empty – all she could do was store the Apples of her friends in the void that was her flesh. There was no reason for her to go on. She didn"t even know why she was alive. Someone like her, who only lived for the sake of living, beginning to lose her grasp on her humanity - had she become a monster?

She couldn’t smile.

She couldn’t find a single happy or treasured memory.

Something that did not smile and didn’t have anything important in life – could that really be called a ‘human’?

“Who are you? What are you planning to do?”

- As usual, whenever that question was asked, she choked on her own words.

Her shoelaces were messily bundled together. That was to be expected – after all, it had been a long time since she engaged in such a delicate activity. Thus it was that Gankyū Eguriko was sitting on the wooden floor in front of the dimly lit shoe closet at Kannonsakazaki Private High School, trying in vain to tie a b.u.t.terfly knot. But after trying for ten full minutes, she still couldn’t get it right. She could vaguely remember being good at it once, but that memory was long gone now.

The only memories she had of her past were those filled with terrible pain and a feeling of helplessness so powerful it was crushing. That was the reason she never tried very hard to remember.

There was still quite some time before school began, and even the stairways were vacant. Guriko made it a point to get to school early in order to practice tying her shoelaces. Despite that, she hadn’t been able to produce anything that didn’t look like a bunch of wet noodles, dragging her deeper into despair.

She didn’t even realize that “he” was standing before her.

Focused on tying her shoelaces with her head bowed, it wasn’t until she was engulfed by his shadow that she realized someone was standing in front of her, and so slowly raised her head.

It was a tall man with a handsome face. Guriko had never seen such a good looking human, though she felt nothing as he stared right at her. Being an immortal, things like attraction and love meant nothing to her - those feelings had withered away to the point of no return.

Despite that, she felt herself shiver involuntarily.

She had no idea why.

“… Are you waiting for me?” Guriko asked quietly.

It was such an un-cute reaction.

She had left all her cute, innocent, Usagawa Rinne-like reactions behind a long, long time ago.

“I never thought I’d see you here this early. Having trouble with your shoelaces?”

The man, Sakaki Guryū, shifted his gaze down to Guriko’s messed up shoelaces. Approaching her nonchalantly, he knelt down and swiftly untangled the mess of strings, gracefully fashioning a perfect b.u.t.terfly knot out of them.

With that, he looked up at Guriko, who was now sitting up straight, and bluntly said, “Don’t you even know something as simple as that?”

“S-shut up! What are you doing here?”

Damm it!, Guriko thought. She never would have imagined this guy helping her out. There was even a tinge of happiness inside her from it. Still, she knew that being nice to him wouldn’t do her any good.

She knew she couldn’t be friends with him. That would be impossible.

Feelings like that just weren’t going to happen, no matter how hard she wished for it.

This was something Guriko knew very well.

Guriko shifted her gaze from Sakaki’s face, which was inches from her own, and bowed her head. Sakaki immediately stood up and took an arrogant pose. He glared down upon her from above.

“Like I said earlier, I want to know who you really are, your motives, and just what you’re after here.”

It was a calm, clear, and loud voice. It was a voice of authority.

Guriko didn’t feel intimidated in the slightest, however.

“You don’t need to know.”

“That doesn’t matter. Now talk. I don’t want to use force, but I will if I have to.”

“You think you stand a chance against me?”

Oh boy, what a bother.

Why did I say something like that?

In her sailor uniform, Guriko rose up slowly to her full height, looking up at the taller man. Sakaki returned her glare with an intense and fiery stare from his emerald eyes.

People with beautiful eyes were always beautiful in the end...

Guriko again averted her gaze and picked up her bag from the floor.

“…Why do you want to know? Are you curious? Or just intrigued?”

“Neither. I’m doing this out of love.”

“…You’re worried about Usagawa Rinne?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…”

What resolve! How could he answer without hesitation?

...did he really love her that much?

Guriko gave him a small smile.

“…How admirable. For both you and Usagawa.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

With that, Guriko looked at him and said honestly, “Instead of suspecting me, why don’t you look out for Mushi instead? I didn’t manage to kill Usagawa, and won’t ever try it again. Those Mushi, on the other hand… they won’t give up on that Apple so easily.”

“Mushi…”

“Yes.”

Mushi – the name of the enemy.

Guriko put on a stern face and stared at Sakaki, as if trying to burn a hole through him with her gaze.

“Those guys were Mushi – And not only are they everywhere, but they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal.”

Don’t let your guard down, she thought silently.

Out of all the teachers in Kannonsakazaki High School, the one in charge of Cla.s.s 1-B, Sakaki Guryū, stood out above the others. His mannerisms were dignified and elegant, a total Prince Charming. To top it off, he was quite the unique teacher, maybe even the best in the world. However, there was something weird about his teaching. Despite technically being a History teacher, he actually taught his cla.s.s all subjects.

“Are we back in elementary school or something?” Sakaki’s students didn"t approve of this matter at all.

The answer to this riddle was Usagawa Rinne. Sakaki wanted to spend as much time as he possibly could with her. Thus, no matter if it was Biology, P.E., or Music, he indiscriminately taught everything. Not only that, but he did so flawlessly. There were no imperfections in his teaching style. Cla.s.s 1-B’s steady rise in grades was easy to see. In addition to his handsome features and artistic talent (which were mostly wasted in his teaching profession), he had earned the students" approval as he was generally kind despite his somewhat cold personality. Therefore, he was truly unique. Gossiping co-workers called him Neptune King, lord of the perfect ones, out of jealousy. The students who grew up in a later generation usually had no idea what they were talking about.

Yet, this superhuman called Sakaki Guryū had a problem one wouldn’t expect from someone like him. That problem was his ‘religion’ of “worship-Usagawa-Rinne-above-all-else.” In other words, his obsession with Milady Usarin and the notion that the world revolved around her. That love for the girl in Cla.s.s 1-B was unrivaled and, in fact, was the very reason he had gotten a teaching license in the first place. This love was already common knowledge at Kannonsakazaki High School, and since he was the type to do whatever it took to achieve his goals, he got that license through force, influence, and authority.

And naturally, he would appear in 1-B’s cla.s.sroom during lunch break because he wanted to eat lunch with Usagawa Rinne. Honestly, he was shameless. What was it about Usagawa Rinne that engrossed such a perfect man to this level of obsession? Does she have some sort of relation to Helen of Troy!? It was a common topic for gossip among the students.

One ordinary day, at lunchtime in this cla.s.sroom—

Something unique happened. It was known as “The November 15th Incident” from then on.

Hurry up.

What’s taking sensei so long? Usagawa Rinne thought to herself.

The date was Monday, November 15th. Luckily, the cla.s.sroom that day was quite warm. Rinne calmly smiled and put two lunchboxes on her desk as she waited for Sakaki Guryū.

During lunch, Sakaki always ignored the normal school lunch and came to eat and chat with Rinne. She loved to cook, so it was never a problem to cook for two. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a bit odd at times because of their rather unnatural relationship. Sakaki grew up sheltered in an incredibly wealthy household, and sometimes the resulting lack of common sense would cause clashes with others.

Secretly, though, she found this cute. It might not have been lady-like, but seeing that even the perfect Sakaki can sometimes act strange relieved her a bit. Sakaki Guryū was still human, just like her. Because it gave her that rea.s.surance, she couldn’t deny that she liked that part of him to a degree.

‘Like’ — Rinne liked Sakaki. Sakaki was a teacher, and she was his student. Despite this difference in status, this wall between them, the two loved each other. That was their trust and their mutual understanding. Because of that, they would be able to find happiness.

Usagawa Rinne was happy.

Sure, she’d get worried from time to time.

But she was undoubtedly happy.

It was noisy. Even though Kannonsakazaki High School was prestigious enough to house only the most obedient of students, lunchtime was still rowdy. The school was old, so the floors and walls were worn and there were random scribbles here and there from past students. Although it probably bothered the neat freaks, Rinne actually liked it. She felt it paid homage to the history of the room, and gave some hints of those who occupied it before.

A cold breeze blew in, causing the curtains to flutter inward. Despite some remaining warmth, Rinne knew the transition to winter had already begun.

At this point, Sakaki Guryū finally arrived.

Sakaki’s hair was a bit messy, probably since he’d rushed here.

As soon as he opened the door, Sakaki shouted, “Sorry I’m late…” even before walking into the room.

“It’s not a problem. I don’t mind.”

Rinne smiled as she gave her gentle response. Despite how much it actually had bothered her, she let none of it show. Still wearing that apologetic face, Sakaki pa.s.sed through the students who had hushed at the appearance of their teacher and walked over to Rinne’s desk. He pulled up a chair and sat down.

“I’m truly sorry, milady. Someone popped in at the worst time. It was some old man that looked like he could croak at any moment from the Education Committee or something. He kept going on and on without getting anywhere. I think the Director of Education probably dumped him on me.”

Sakaki thought nothing of saying the harsh words he used and sighed.

“Ugh! Why on Earth did they have to send him to me? And during my precious lunch break, too! The office is trying to punish me, I tell you.”

Rinne held back a laugh, and covered her mouth with her hands.

Sakaki’s confused expression was just too cute.

“Sensei, maybe it’s best if you don’t look at it like someone is wanting to punish you, or that’ll make you paranoid to the point that just thinking about it will bother you!”

“That is true… What you say does make sense. Haha, I can’t tell who’s the teacher and who’s the student here, Milady Usarin.”

She honestly didn’t know why he insisted on calling her “Milady Usarin.” “Usarin” was an abbreviation of her name “Usagawa Rinne,” but why j.a.panese people love to shorten all proper nouns was a mystery to her. Like pocket bells, personal computers, s.e.xual hara.s.sment, or convenience stores. “Guriko” was another example of this.

Rinne thought of the mysterious transfer student called Guriko who had killed her, although Rinne barely remembered what happened that night. She had been watching TV when her door was suddenly busted open. When she turned around, something pierced her eye, and she pa.s.sed out. When she had woken up, Sakaki was by her side and her room was filled with blood. Beyond that, she remembered nothing.

What had she gotten herself into? Just who exactly was that Guriko girl? Rinne did not understand what had happened at all, not that she particularly wanted to delve deeper into the matter. She only got upset only when something threatened her future with Sakaki. If Guriko had actually wanted to kill her, then that would really be scary. Rinne understood far too well the pain of death.

Yet, it would be silly to feel terrified just because of a possibility, and Guriko hadn’t shown any signs of acting again. Therefore, Rinne wasn’t particularly on guard despite the fact that it had only been a few days since the girl transferred here.

Besides, no matter what happened, Sakaki would protect her. That was the way it was.

With a cheerful expression, Rinne opened a lunchbox and idly chatted with Sakaki. She was poor, so her lunches weren’t anything luxurious, but Sakaki still seemed satisfied. He looked like a young child with clasped hands when he exclaimed, “Itadakimasu!” Seeing that, she couldn’t help but smile.

This calm scene was the way they pa.s.sed their time.

While stuffing his face with green beans, Sakaki happily asked, “By the way, how’s the wall that got blood splattered all over it? Did you find a way to get it cleaned up yet?”

Rinne poured some barley tea and downed it in one gulp. She then answered, “Well, there were bits of flesh with it too, so washing it with water only wouldn’t work. Even scrubbing it with a rag probably wouldn’t have worked, so I put new wallpaper over it.”

“Wasn’t that expensive?”

“Yup, I used up all my savings. Since the tatami was also soaked, I had to swap that out too. That was expensive too. For a poor student, that kind of spending is deadly.”

“I’ll never forgive that Guriko. But back to the main point, why don’t you get her to pay you back?”

In front of Sakaki, who seemed honestly angry, Rinne merely shrugged.

“It was you who shot that gun! Besides — Guriko probably has it worse than me. I think she’s homeless, and besides, she told me that she can’t even afford stationery.”

“…Do you two talk often?”

“We sit next to each other. She doesn’t seem to have anything to do after cla.s.s, so I talk to her.”

Rinne’s naivety nearly caused Sakaki to faint.

“Your lack of concern for your personal safety never ceases to baffle me, milady! Didn’t I tell you not to talk to her? That talking to her will get your eyes gouged out?”

I’ll gouge your eyes out!

That was actually a death threat.

But still, Rinne was not afraid.

“Something like that"s obviously a joke. I know for sure she’s just scared of being alone. She avoids other people since she doesn’t want to hurt them. I can see that since that’s how I used to be. I think Guriko actually wants to interact with people more.”

Rinne told him how she honestly felt, but he seemed less than impressed.

He sighed while looking up at the ceiling.

“Look… I know you’re naïve… But you should realize the reason why I don’t think she’s kidding is because she’s already gouged your eyes out once!”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Rinne, defeated, smiled and set her cup down with a “clank.” Sakaki seemed to have a grudge against Guriko, but Rinne didn’t think she was all that bad. She decided Guriko must have had good reason for removing her eyes.

“Aren’t you going to eat, milady? You’ve only been drinking tea so far.”

Sakaki was confused. Not only was Rinne’s food untouched, her lunchbox hadn’t even been opened. His question was a valid one.

Rinne stayed silent for a while.

“…I-I don’t know why, but I haven’t felt hungry or thirsty ever since Guriko almost killed me. To be honest, I haven’t eaten anything in about four days.”

“What..?”

Sakaki felt his voice crack as he spoke.

“Even so, I’m still not hungry. Hmm… isn"t that weird?”

As she looked to him, she saw his face had gone white as a sheet.

Sakaki had already told Rinne about her immediate resurrection after her eyes had been gouged out. But with this loss of appet.i.te, this — wasn’t this extraordinary!? It was proof she wasn’t human anymore.

After noticing she no longer had a need to eat, she had constantly run into the bathroom to look at herself. She had been making sure she hadn’t turned into some sort of monster.

If that happened, she’d lose Sakaki, and that was a fate worse than death for her. So Rinne had kept her lack of appet.i.te hidden until then.

“Sensei…”

Rinne looked at Sakaki, who had yet to respond.

Rinne understood that there were some things even Sakaki had trouble understanding, but even so, she longed for him to tell her, “That’s okay,” or “Don’t worry,” or anything like that. If only she could get that rea.s.surance, she could go on.

But—

The door slid open.

Guriko stood there. Her wolf-like hair looked like it had been styled by a typhoon. She had on a bored and impatient expression, but her eyes were the type that made you feel like you were staring down the barrel of a gun. This was the transfer student — Gankyū Eguriko.

Her gaze fell upon the couple that sat across from each other in the centre of the cla.s.sroom — Sakaki Guryū and Usagawa Rinne. Right then, her face turned to one of surprise. For Guriko, whose face usually revealed no expression whatsoever, showing a genuine emotion like shock was quite a rare occurrence.

Upon noticing the school’s well known lovers, this transfer student who had recently dominated the school’s discussions strode over and glared at Sakaki. She gave him a glare as if she were interrogating him and bluntly asked, “Have you eaten?”

“…Huh?”

“I asked you a question. Did you eat this bento?”

Guriko’s expression was extremely focused. And thanks to her loud voice, the entire cla.s.s had turned to look. All of them thought, ‘Ho boy, what’s that transfer student doing now?’ Very quickly, the cla.s.sroom became silent. Despite how odd it was, Sakaki decided to indulge Guriko in her question.

“Yes, I ate it.”

“Really?”

She muttered mostly to herself.

Guriko suddenly lowered her head and pressed her lips against those of Sakaki Guryū.

“Eh…” “Whoa…”

Sakaki’s eyes opened wide. Rinne’s face was shocked. The cla.s.s fell into uproar.

“Ugh…”

“Um… Ugh…”

Guriko held Sakaki’s head, and locked lips with him. Put plainly, she kissed him forcefully. In the middle of lunch. In front of the entire cla.s.s. What the heck was she thinking?? This mysterious transfer known as Gankyū Eguriko had stolen a kiss from the teacher just after having been there for only two days. Not only that, she even did in front of that teacher’s lover. Her motives didn’t matter. To the student body, this was clearly a declaration of war against Rinne. There was no other way for them to see it, but Guriko’s next action provided only added fuel to the fire.

“Clang—”

Of all the things that could happen!

Guriko flipped the lunchbox Sakaki had been eating from and dumped out all the food that Rinne had lovingly prepared. Then, she took Rinne’s lunchbox and dumped it out as well before driving her foot into the spilled food. After she had destroyed the lunches she declared, “Don’t eat this woman’s food!”

And because of this—

What was there to be done? There was nothing that could explain this. Without another word, Guriko walked off with pride, leaving the stunned Sakaki and pale Rinne behind. Within moments, any student that had a cell phone began to text and call their friends. Messages like: “Usagawa Rinne’s rival in love appears!” “On just her second day after transferring, Gankyū Eguriko kissed Sakaki Guryū, threw down the lunch Rinne made for him, and declared, “Don’t eat that woman’s food!”” and “This will definitely be very interesting!” began to flood forth.

That was the “November 15th Incident.” It has lived in infamy ever since.

For those living an ordinary high-school life, this had been quite the event.

“What splendid entertainment!”

The voice sounded both male and female. It was something that lacked distinction.

“What are you planning — Mushi?”

That pure and innocent voice seemed to cut through the previous one.

They were in front of cla.s.sroom 1-B in Kannonsakazaki High School. Despite being outside the chaos of the cla.s.sroom, there were always the echoing sounds of students in the hallway. The two of them faced off there, and despite them both having human appearance, neither of them were human at all. One was a Mushi taking on the form of a human, and the other had once been human, but had since become some creature that was only human-like — Gankyū Eguriko. The Mushi wore a sailor uniform, had short hair, and wore a friendly expression. She looked completely normal, save for her red eyes.

The Mushi, still emotionless, made an intriguing noise.

“This was just a confirmation! After all, there’s no way for ‘us’ to lose. We simply believed it important to check whether or not Usagawa Rinne’s Apple has taken root in her soul. You should already know there’s nothing we won’t do in order to achieve our objectives.”

“…After death, the soul separates itself from the physical body. Apples reside in the soul, so — death is the only requirement for taking the soul, correct? Unfortunately for you, Usagawa Rinne’s Apple has already taken root in her soul. I confirmed this myself.”

“But ‘we’ have not! We do not trust anyone besides ourselves, especially not you!”

The Mushi replied in a dull and terrible voice. They had no individuality, and thus did not have emotions.

They were an exterminating machine that moved in hordes — that was Mushi.

“Even if you’re willing to do anything, you should have some discretion — did you plan on killing Sakaki Guryū?”

“Since we did not know which lunchbox Usagawa Rinne would eat from, we poisoned both of them. Mmm, that was a necessary sacrifice! We Mushi aren’t hampered with your romantic ideals. As long as we obtain the Apple, it doesn’t matter what happens to others.”

Guriko grit her teeth and said, “That’s why I despise you.”

“That may be, but we don’t particularly want you to hold feelings of affection toward us anyway.”

The aura emitted between the two non-humans grew unbearably intense. Its strength caused the windows in the hallway to begin to rattle.

Guriko crossed her arms and glared at the Mushi.

“But you have already lost. Usagawa Rinne"s appet.i.te is already gone, so the poison wouldn’t have worked on her anyway. Only Sakaki would have died. But I’m not going to let even that happen. You won’t have your way if I have anything to say about it.”

“Haha!” the Mushi laughed.

For the emotionless Mushi, laughter had only one purpose — to provoke.

“That was certainly an interesting way of removing the poison from that man’s mouth. You seem to be turning into quite the rebel. Where did you learn something like that?”

“You talk too much! Because of you, I had to create a big disturbance in cla.s.s. There was no choice… Why does my reputation always have to suffer?!”

“Because your att.i.tude is normally terrible, anyway. Something like this just adds to it.”

“It’s probably-”

Guriko closed her eyes and then murmured as if in a trance, “-because G.o.d hates me.”

She then pulled a spoon from her skirt pocket and threw it at the Mushi with speed too great for the naked eye to detect. The spoon cleanly pierced the eye of the fake schoolgirl Mushi. However, that wasn’t enough to stop its inertia. The spoon shot traveled through the eye socket, through the brain, and out the back of the skull. Obviously, this wasn’t something a human could pull off. The Mushi gave a small final smile before its ruined body collapsed. Right before it hit the floor, it broke down and disappeared.

The blood-stained spoon fell to the ground with a gentle metallic sound.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m used to being hated.”

And so, Guriko skipped cla.s.s and went up to the roof for an afternoon nap.

After school ended that day, Usagawa Rinne staggered home with an air of frustration and defeat. Her thoughts were plagued with what had happened at lunch. Guriko had kissed Sakaki Guryū and told him to stop eating Rinne’s food. It made her heart pound. What was this uneasy feeling? Why did she feel so nauseous?

“Why…”

Why did Guriko kiss Sakaki? What kind of reason could she have to do this? Rinne smiled bitterly. Why was she so upset? Sakaki had kissed someone else, but why did seeing that annoy her so much?

“So annoying…”

Rinne noticed her jealousy of Guriko, and felt a bit disgusted by it. Was this what it felt like to have that which you value most threatened? This was the first time Rinne felt something like this, so it was hard to describe. “Jealousy” was the most accurate word, she figured. Rinne loved Sakaki, and seeing him kiss another girl was incredibly painful. So painful that for the time being she didn’t even want to talk to Sakaki.

Even though Sakaki’s feelings hadn’t changed and he didn’t hate Rinne, she still felt dejected. Noticing her own unreasonably poor mood, Rinne worried herself into a deeper depression. Rinne decided it was a bit like saving a cookie to enjoy later, only for someone else to eat it. She and Sakaki had only kissed once, on Sakaki’s birthday. Rinne thought of that as a bond between them, something that only she had.

However, that was no longer true. Right in front of Rinne, Guriko had kissed Sakaki.

“I’m so useless…”

She wanted to cry. She was already almost crying. It felt weak to be so bothered by this. She was still a weak human who trembled over such a trivial fact. Even if her body lost the ability to die, her heart was still so weak. So fragile. So powerless. So pathetic!

Realizing that obsessing over this was only going to make her feel worse, she decided not to dwell on it any longer. That’s it! Even if she avoided Sakaki today, she would greet him with a smile tomorrow! After that resolution, she felt a bit better.

Pa.s.sing the bustling market, she then walked upon a rough path. It was always deserted here. Only the weeds were present, and not even a parking lot or the like could be seen. Rinne blankly gazed at the unchanging scenery where she used to frequently get lost as she walked, her thoughts jumbled.

“Hey, young lady over there.”

A voice. Rinne turned to look. In the s.p.a.ce that had just been empty, a small, mysterious stand had appeared. Or maybe it was a shop? At least, it was covered with a plastic tarp like a tent. Inside the violet tent was a crystal ball, and sitting behind that was a robe-wearing man who gave off a strange vibe. There was a sign out front that read, “Fortune telling, 100 yen”.

“Hey, the young lady over there.”

Rinne couldn’t help but stop and turn to look at the perplexing little shop.

She was sure it hadn’t been there that morning.

The mysterious fortune teller spread out his hands and said in an ambiguous voice, “That’s right, this is fortune telling. Good luck, ill fortune, fated events, and romantic matches are all revealed. A young lady of your age should at least know about horoscopes or blood type fortunes! Besides those, there is fortune telling with Tarot cards, normal cards, flowers, or even with water flow. Your face, hands, clothes, and even the layout of your home are also taken into consideration. Just tell me your name, and I can read your fortune for you!”

Should she give it a go? — He just kept rambling on. Did he really have nothing else to do?

The price wasn’t that bad, and it’d be kind of pathetic if the fortune teller got ignored despite all his promoting. Therefore, Rinne carelessly walked into the tent. The inside was flooded with an odd, hazy light. The fortune teller gazed intently at Rinne and then at his crystal ball before announcing, “Oh, ah… this is bad!”

“What…”

I haven’t even said anything yet… she thought. The fortune teller lifted up his crystal ball and gleefully repeated, “Bad! Bad!”

“This is ominous! Usagawa Rinne-san, your fortune is doomed. It’s h.e.l.lishly evil luck. The movements of the stars are terrible!”

“My name—”

Did I tell him my name? No, I didn’t.

The fortune teller didn’t seem to notice her confusion as he blathered on, “Life is like a star. Sometimes it grows dim, while other times it shines brightly. Unfortunately, though, smaller stars are attracted to larger ones, and when they collide the smaller stars are smashed to pieces.”

He looked at Rinne with his eyes that he had been hiding behind a hood. They were red.

“Some great existences cannot be approached. A star too small will only end up crushed if it reaches for something greater. It needs to know its limits if it is to remain safe. The gravity of a giant star is great, and draws in many small stars that only end up destroyed. Only by living carefully will they live long enough to achieve a death with blinding radiance.”

“That—"

Rinne stood up, staring at the cross-legged fortune teller. “That’s—”

“Make no mistake, it is you I speak of!”

The fortune teller wearing a violet robe gloomily addressed her in an androgynous voice, “Should you not reach out and stay your distance, you shall have an even more brilliant death.”

She realized this Fortune Teller was dangerous, but there were questions she had to get answered first.

“You’re saying the large star is sensei? And the small star is me? I… can’t be with sensei?”

After hearing Rinne’s soft, almost-crying voice, the fortune teller lips curled up in a smile.

“You seem to misunderstand.”

The so-called large star—

“Is, of course, the Apple of Eden.”

The voice came from behind.

Rinne slowly turned her head, and saw about ten people behind her, all with those same red eyes.

It was a bizarre scene. When she wasn’t paying attention, these emotionless and insect-like people had gathered behind her. Their appearances ranged all over the place. There were children, adults, an old lady with a crooked back, a lady who seemed to be on her way home after shopping, and a uniformed high school student. They seemed to lack a sense of self, as if they were all one. Judging by their looks alone, though, it was hard to see any correlation.

Rinne cried out softly, taking a step back. She was terrified. Just what did these people want? She had not heard from Sakaki about his encounter with a fortune teller called Mushi, and this was her first experience with something like this. It had become quickly apparent she had been thrust into some sort of bizarre world normal humans never saw. What could she do in such a world?

Rinne shuddered as the fortune teller behind her said in a bored tone, “I don’t think resistance is going to get you anywhere. Though we Mushi do not have superhuman strength, we are not weaker than humans either. You are no match for us!”

“What are you planning to do to me?”

“We would like you to die.”

The “Mushi” in front of her that looked like an office worker responded in an identical voice. That cruel response shocked Rinne. I’m going to be killed! I’m going to be killed! Terror filled her body.

“In other words, we will use every method we can think of to kill you, Usagawa Rinne. Strangulation, beating, poisoning, a.s.sa.s.sination, shooting at you to make you bleed out, or perhaps even drowning or burning you. If you still will not die… we’ll just think of something else! We’ll start with these.”

Her first thought was to ask Sakaki for help. She had his number stored in her phone, she just needed about 30 seconds to get a hold of him.

However, it didn’t seem like these things were interested in giving her those 30 seconds.

The fortune teller Mushi seemed to read her mind, and harshly told her, “I won’t let you call for help. Besides, the bodyguards Sakaki Guryū secretly sent to protect you should have already been taken care of by other Mushi. No matter how you look at it, nothing will save you. How sad—“

A mountain of terror fell upon her and she let out a hoa.r.s.e scream.

The office worker Mushi wrapped his hand around Rinne’s slim neck. She had frozen in fear. Dry, flat fingers began to squeeze painfully into her throat.

“First we’ll strangle you. Ah, it seems like you can still feel pain. How unfortunate...”

A Mushi continued, “This will hurt!”

The incredible strength of the choking gave new definition to the word “pain”. She felt like her neck was going to break in two.

She didn’t have the strength to resist and the pain had robbed her of the ability to think straight. All she could do was cry out with ear-piercing shrieks.

“…We’re just getting started. Carry the guilt of your crime to your death!”

Crime?

I committed… a crime?

That’s why I must suffer like this and die such a brutal death?

If that was the case — what crime did I commit?

Her vision became blurry and she got dizzy. At this point, she wasn’t even sure if she was still conscious. Her neck made a creaking sound. It hurt. It hurt so much.

Usagawa Rinne naturally thought of Sakaki Guryū. All she could do was think of her feelings for him and pray he could hear them — then, she could die.

Then—

A flash.

A dazzling flash shot into the back of the head of the Mushi strangling her. With violent force, the impact covered the inside of the tent with blood. In an instant, the Mushi disappeared as if it had blown up. Rinne was suddenly released, and fell to the ground in a coughing fit. She had a hard time believing the retching sounds were coming from her own throat. Wiping off the saliva from her mouth, she desperately tried to get a grasp on her surroundings. The thing in front of her—

Was spinning.

A blood-stained spoon fell to the ground.

The flash that had killed the Mushi and saved Rinne was —

— A spoon.

“…How many times do I have to say it before you blockheads get it? Killing Usagawa Rinne is pointless.”

The Mushi all turned to look at the source of the voice, and so did Rinne. The voice came from the entrance to the lot where they were.

Standing there was Gankyū Eguriko.

Her steely face clearly showed unhappiness. Her wolf-like hair was even more of a mess and her uniform was dirty. It seemed pretty obvious she’d just woken up from a nap. With piercing eyes and armed with several spoons, Gankyū Eguriko of cla.s.s 1-B, seat eleven, shouted with her pure voice, “I can’t be too careful. Even an afternoon nap is a no go now. And I was sleeping so comfortably, too. Well, have you said your prayers yet?”

At that moment—

Whoosh.

Just when Rinne thought she saw Guriko’s hand move, three spoons were already streaking for the eyes of three of the Mushi. The Mushi died just like the one before, instantly bursting before disappearing. Rinne absent-mindedly thought that they kind of resembled popping balloons.

As she was thinking that, the bruises on her neck and the pain she felt disappeared as if they had never happened at all. The fortune teller Mushi clicked his tongue and confirmed it.

“Really — you won’t die. How troublesome!”

“I’m out of spoons.”

Guriko ignored the Mushi’s words, and with a grim expression said in a low voice, “…So from now on it’s going to be hand-to-hand combat. Fists aren’t like spoons, they can’t kill with a single hit. It’s gonna hurt. A lot. If you Mushi don’t want to be pummeled, then you’d better duck your tail between your legs and scram!”

The words were thick with malice. It was a voice filled with total confidence backed by powerful murderous intent that caused Rinne to stiffen in fear.

“Unfortunately —“

But the Mushi were not intimidated at all.

“—Pain and suffering are not obstacles to our goals!”

“I know. Then — I’ll just wipe you all out.”

And so Guriko charged forward.

Rinne shut her eyes in fear.

Leaving the public baths, Usagawa Rinne returned home feeling warm and refreshed. She tossed her towel and old clothes in the washing machine in front of her apartment. It had been left there by the previous tenant, and though it didn’t work too often, it was still rather durable. Rinne picked up the key hidden under it and opened the door to her apartment. Inside it was pitch black and obviously empty. She turned on the light and let out a sigh of relief. The fear of an ambush waiting for her gradually fled from her mind. She unconsciously touched her neck that had long since stopped hurting.

“Ah…”

She stood there for a while feeling slight helplessness before she shook it off. She pulled out a comforter from the closet as well as a pillow, and then looked at her cell phone to check the time. 10:02 PM. Sakaki had bought her the phone, and he paid the bill as well. She always felt guilty about using it. After today, though, she really wanted to call him. Rinne stared at the phone, hesitating... Should she call, or not? It was embarra.s.sing to call this late at night.

As she stood there, the doorbell rang. At first, she just stared at it, a bit stunned. The only reason this apartment had a doorbell at all was because the previous tenant had installed one. With a small apartment like that, it served no real purpose. Knocking would have worked just as well.

Who could it be?

The events of that day started to haunt her again and she shuddered. The horrifying fortune teller, the man who strangled her, the transfer student who killed them without a second thought, and those people called Mushi who exploded before they died. She couldn’t begin to understand any of it and she didn’t want to, either. The fortune teller’s words cryptically repeated in her head: Some things couldn’t be touched or even approached.

Now there was knocking on the door. Rinne slowly got up while thinking, Who is it? She wondered if it might be the self-proclaimed musician who lived next door to her, coming again to borrow some rice.

The door opened. That’s right, it wasn’t even locked.

The one silently standing at the open door was—

“Guriko… chan.”

“You didn"t need to add a "chan".”

Gankyū Eguriko spoke in a sharp tone, and had an extremely dissatisfied expression plastered on her face.

Even though she was bewildered by the unexpected visitor, Rinne still remembered that Guriko had saved her earlier that day. For that, she relaxed and loosened herself up a bit.

“What are you doing here at this hour…?”

“It’s cold outside.”

“Eh?”

“Let me live here.”

“…er, huh?"

The outlandish and selfish request took her by complete surprise. Guriko didn’t seem interested in waiting for an answer as she walked in, tossed off her dirty shoes, and sat down on the floor.

“…Um… Then, Guriko, what’s going on here?”

“Ugh…”

For a while, it looked like she was thinking about what to say. Guriko then sighed and expressionlessly pulled her cheek, saying in her clear voice, “Agh, I’m horrible at lying, so I’ll just tell the truth. I came here to protect you, Usagawa Rinne. The Mushi seem to have made your Apple their goal. There’re possibly other goals, but I don’t know anything about that. There are too many of them, and since things are so dangerous I can’t help but worry. In order to observe the situation and protect you, I think living here is the best idea. If you think I’m in the way, just pretend I don’t exist. And so, I’ll be making this place my home.”

How selfish.

Rinne was shocked by Guriko, who sat there staring at her, and then shyly smiled. None of it made any sense, but one thing was clear. Saying anything more would be pointless.

“What did you mean when you said ‘It’s cold outside’ at the beginning?”

“I planned to use that as an excuse to live here, but I can’t just lie my way through life. It’s actually not cold to me at all. I haven’t felt temperature for a long time. Even if I slept at the South Pole, I wouldn’t die, and I wouldn’t feel the cold, either. But… telling the truth… is a bit embarra.s.sing, too.”

‘For the sake of protecting you’ sure wasn’t Guriko’s style. Though, the more Rinne thought about it, the more she smiled.

Guriko blankly looked at Rinne who tried to hide her smile.

“What are you smiling for… Ah, whatever, I’m sure you’re confused, but please be patient. Once I figure out what the Mushi want and exterminate them, I’ll leave… eh?”

Guriko said all that in a single breath, but suddenly turned to look toward the corner of the room. There was a giant egg wrapped with a soft cloth. It was covered with a geometric design, and seemed man-made.

Rinne glanced at the suddenly-silent Guriko with fear in her eyes and asked, “Um, what is it, Guriko-chan?”

“…Nothing.”

Guriko scratched her head.

“The egg of a Dream World Beast. That’s weird. Well, it shouldn’t be dangerous since it’s not an evil beast.”

After saying those cryptic words, she got up and walked back and forth across the room.

“In short, those Mushi are going to be hard to deal with, and solving that problem is gonna take a while. Until I’m done, I’ll just stay in this closet here.”

Guriko opened the closet and laid down. She wasn"t Doraemon! That place wasn’t for a girl to sleep.

Rinne dreamt up ways to convince Guriko out of the closet so they could both sleep on the futon. There was only one futon in the room, so Rinne would give the pillow to Guriko and use a cushion instead. Guriko resisted at first, but soon gave up in the face of Rinne’s stubbornness. She curled up and quickly fell asleep.

Rinne still wasn’t sure what was going on. Guriko had killed her once, and that morning had forcefully kissed the person most important to her. Despite this, for some reason Rinne never felt she was a bad person. Gently patting the sweetly sleeping Guriko on the head, Rinne felt strangely at ease.

Then Rinne thought of something, and picked up the cell phone by the pillow to text Sakaki. Then, she closed her eyes, basked in Guriko’s warmth, and fell asleep.

From ★ UsarinTo ★ SenseiSubject ★ EdictBody ★ Sorry for bothering you so late. This is Usarin. Sensei, something extremely scary happened today. I was attacked by agroup of Mushi with red eyes, although I didn’t know what they were at the time. I was strangled and almost killed, makingthat the third time I almost died. Is that good luck? Or bad? I’m still alive after coming close to death so many times. Since Ilived, it’s only right for me to keep living on. Sensei, I’ll do my best to stay alive.About that incident at lunch, I think Guriko must have had some reason for doing that. I don’t know what the cla.s.s thinks, but Ithink Guriko isn’t the type of person who would commit horrible crimes, so tomorrow I’ll ask her about the details. I know youtold me to avoid talking to Guriko, but I want to keep talking to her.Sensei, I don’t know what’s going on around us. It feels like there’s always some sort of terrible conspiracy, but I won’tdespair because I have you. As long as Sensei is here, I’ll keep on hoping for the best. That was our promise. I love you,Sensei.P.S. I got a new family member. A person, not a cat. Who do you think it is, sensei? I’ll tell you tomorrow. I think you’llbe shocked though!

And that’s it.

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