Mushi to Medama

“…”

The handsome man with golden hair and blue eyes —— Sakaki Guryū, closed his cell phone with a “snap”. He sighed deeply. This man, humanity’s pinnacle of intelligence, financial resources, appearance and athletic ability, was Usagawa Rinne’s lover as well as her j.a.panese History teacher at Kannonsakazaki High School.

A year earlier, Sakaki had fallen in love with Rinne due to a certain incident, and abandoned the giant company controlling j.a.pan from the shadows —— the Sakaki Organization. He had forsaken his position as its heir, as well as all his higher education, and became a high school teacher all in order to stay by Usagawa Rinne’s side. He felt that she was the only worthwhile existence in his life. That was the man named Sakaki Guryū.

Sakaki, unhappiness dominating his face, surveyed his surroundings while watching all four sides. People dressed in black were blatantly displaying illegal firearms.

“You see, one of my dear students has threatened me with eyeball gouging. She can easily carry out her threat, so you guys can get lost! I’d like to reject that eyeball gouging —— if I don’t hurry to milady’s home, I’ll lose these blue eyes I inherited from my mother!”

Rinne had been absent from school that day. As soon as Sakaki found out about this, he immediately stopped his cla.s.s and ditched the staff meeting to go see her, but he was ambushed. It was around eight o’clock when he rushed out of cla.s.s, and the maths showed he had been fighting for four hours. He kicked aside some of the black-suit flock, but was immediately surrounded again. Fighting them down one by one wasn"t tiring him out, but it was starting to frustrate him.

Rinne, he thought of Usagawa Rinne.

The one who gave Sakaki’s life meaning, the most important person in the world, was currently suffering. Yet these people in black suit were obstructing his path, which implied suicidal tendencies —— but who exactly were these enemies? If this continued, blood would probably be spilled.

“Are you Mushi?”

No response.

Mushi were the mysterious beings searching for the “Apples” —— also called “Apples of Eden”, the forbidden fruit which allowed humans who ate them to become immortal —— and they attacked humans to do so. Their true objectives remained a riddle, though someone who called himself Snake described them as beings similar to angels or demons.

When Sakaki fought against Snake the previous month, he happened to eat an Apple, and had since met multiple Mushi seeking to kill him. Thus, he a.s.sumed that this incident was the same, but ——

If they were Mushi, they should have unhesitatingly tried to kill him as fast as possible. But these black-suited people surrounding him showed no sign of using their guns. The tell-tale sign of the Mushi, eyes that shone with red light, could not be verified due to concealment by sungla.s.ses.

“Even when there are guns pointed at you, that cell phone still takes priority, Guryū-onii-san?”

Suddenly, he heard a female voice that tried to hide mediocrity with an air of elegance. That was a familiar voice —— Sakaki’s patience ended as he turned to the source.

Behind the still wall of black-suited men, a girl stood.

“People that I, the Black Dragon, can stand the least are people like you who act as though everything lacked difficulty.”

From her black dress that was completely incongruous with this street in a small rural town to the ribbon on her head, all of her clothes were black. Aside from her skin, teeth and the whites of her eyes, it was as if her entire body was buried under black. She was one of the backup adopted siblings prepared in case something happened to Sakaki.

"Kuroki -- Tatsue?" Sakaki mumbled her name as he put his cell phone in his pocket and looked at the black-suited men surrounding him. "So, you"re Sakaki Organization"s men. How pointless. Bothering me is a waste of time. Hey -- I"ve already memorized your faces. Since you"ve pointed guns at the heir to the Sakaki Organization and committed the crime of preventing him from going to his destination, you"ll all be thrown out into the street."

"Guryū-onii-san, you are still ignoring me?" Tatsue nervously raised her eyebrows as she spoke unhappily, holding onto a scarlet teddy bear that added an alien color to her monochrome look.

Should we say she was still too cautious, or is it more accurate to say that she was simply too narrow-minded?

Sakaki shifted his sight away from the black-suited men who didn"t know what to do as they lowered their guns, and looked toward his step-sister. "You’re just a spare backup. What did you come to find me, Sakaki Guryū, for? Back to the main topic, it"s been a long time since the last time we met, Tatsue. How many years has it been? Nine? You"ve grown so much. Last time I saw you, you were still crying "I didn"t wet the bed! I didn"t!" Ah, good times."

"D-d-do not speak of that!" Tatsue"s face turned red. She waved her arms at the whispering black-suited men in front of her as she said this while on the verge of tears, "It"s because you"re so arrogant and ill-hearted that I cannot stand you."

"Oh, and there"s that pretentious speech pattern you like to use. Don"t talk like that, you seem even more pathetic. In fact --"

Sakaki silently watched Tatsue. No, more accurately, he watched the scarlet teddy bear she held. It was something that could be bought anywhere, yet impossible to sell. Rather than looking cute, it horrified people with a blood-stained appearance that made it useless for consolation --

"Father." Sakaki mumbled, crossing his arms as he sternly said, "You"re communicating with us like that again. How distrusting of your own son."

"Eh?"

The surprised one was Tatsue. She was frightened enough to almost drop the teddy bear, and quickly tried to steady herself. As cold sweat ran down her face, her cute bluffing expression completely disappeared.

"F-f-father?"

It was the current president of the organization with more power than a nation -- Sakaki Ganhō. He likely feared a.s.sa.s.sination, as not even Sakaki had seen his face before. This led to Sakaki wondering if his father was even alive.

"......"

The scarlet teddy bear casually made a sound.

"Hey, Gu-tan, it"s dad."

A clear, disarming synthetic voice came from the stuffed animal with a unique echo. Then again, with this type of voice, the speaker generally wants to avoid allowing his actual voice to be recognized. Sakaki nodded, and said casually, "What do you mean "It"s dad", you idiot father. What do you want? I need to visit milady. If this is just for some pointless little thing, then leave!"

"B-b-brother! How could you speak like that to father!"

Sakaki paid no attention to Tatsue"s noisy shouting. No matter whose voice came out of it, that thing was just a stuffed animal that deserved no respect. Besides, Sakaki never respected his father, who forcefully molded him into an ideal heir. With the study and training that was practically infused into his blood, this person destroyed Sakaki"s childhood.

Without moving, the teddy bear laughed in a poorly synthesized voice.

"Hahaha! You"re still so frightening. Dad"s heartbroken! Mmm -- actually, there isn"t really anything too serious. I just wanted to see my cute son that I haven"t seen in a long time."

"Good bye."

Sakaki ignored Tatsue and the teddy bear and walked toward his destination. Running to Rinne"s home from there would take about ten minutes. So much time had been wasted!

"Wait up, wait up, wait up, Gu-tan! Tatsue, chase him!"

The teddy bear said so nonchalantly, and Tatsue desperately followed its orders with a pale face. Too bad, it seems like this time she would only be used as a convenient transporter.

As Sakaki thought this, the teddy bear issued a cruel order.

"Ah, what a pain. He"s trying to escape. Alright, you goons, shoot Gu-tan in the thigh! Then he"ll stop, right? Don"t worry, even if Gu-tan gets injured he"ll quickly recover, so there"s no need to hold back."

Those words...

Sakaki suddenly turned around, and looked angrily at the teddy bear held by the pale-faced Tatsue.

"Father, where did you find out about that?"

His injuries would recover. In other words, he knew that Sakaki ate an Apple and became immortal, with the superhuman ability to resurrect.

Speaking of that, a monster had wrecked the town a month earlier, and afterwards Sakaki had asked his father to arrange the media cover-up. The incident was reported to be a result of an earthquake, and eyewitnesses were forced to keep silent. Needless to say, the hidden truth should have gone straight to the man behind the cover-up ---- the father.

However, only Sakaki, Rinne, and of course the Mushi and Snake as well as Guriko should have known about the Apples.

"Who do you think I am?" The teddy bear continued matter-of-factly. "Of course I know more than you do! I just don"t tell you because I don"t want you to sink deeper into this business. All in all, there"s nothing worthwhile there, and the knowledge would just be disgusting. Do you understand?"

He used an unnerving, emotionless voice to talk to the silent Sakaki.

"Last month," the teddy bear"s words still sounded matter-of-fact, "an immensely large monster ---- a Dream World Beast rampaged, right? Who do you think killed it? Or rather...how was it killed? Did you really think a few bombs dropped from a plane would be enough?"

That voice mocked Sakaki rather than questioned him.

"Whether with explosives or firebombs, did you think it was possible to soundlessly kill such a large monster? Not only that ---- to exterminate a monster with extraordinary life force gained from an Apple, that can easily cause so much destruction? Can a weapon that incredible really exist?"

That was a joyful and delighted voice.

"If you just think about last month"s events, so many things don"t make sense. Gu-tan, you don"t know anything. You misunderstood the whole situation despite having overcome that conflict. The Apple, the G.o.d, the Mushi! You barely understand any of them! ---- But you don"t need to understand them since you"re my cute, adorable successor."

These words pierced Sakaki"s ears and made his eyebrows curl.

After overcoming that and pa.s.sing through a period of peace, he finally felt secure ---- but now, it all became undone. What was going on? He felt horribly uneasy, his doubts suddenly layered up, and he began to feel disgusted by the Apple taking root in his soul.

"You, what are you trying to get at?"

"Ah? I"m just worrying like any normal father over his child"s life. Basically, I want you to inherit the Sakaki Organization like a good boy while I do my best to keep you away from danger. Watch out for the names Tear Song,Catastrophe, The Weakest, Unpleasant Counter-Current, Single Room, G.o.d Insect Emperor, and Sterilization Disinfection. It"s just as their names imply. If you involve yourself with them you die.”

Mindlessly saying these unclear words, the head of the Sakaki Organization ---- Sakaki Ganhō laughed gloomily with his synthesized voice. Tatsue felt very afraid and looked at the stuffed animal in alarm.

Mushi, eyeball, and a teddy bear.

Not showing up in the previous month"s events, hiding in the darkness, the third person who stayed out of sight while putting actions in motion ---- he, Sakaki Ganhō, was there. What did he know, what did he want? The horrifying teddy bear merely spoke cheerfully to Sakaki, yet it seemed accusing.

"Mmm, I need to pick something to say. Since I"m pretty busy, I only wanted to say this one thing, but it got dragged out so long. Ah, that"s right. I almost forgot."

The teddy bear suddenly moved and clapped its hands. It probably carried this function. "Waah!" Tatsue made a strange sound.

"Usagawa Rinne is your girlfriend right? I sent people to thoroughly investigate her these few months. Honestly, I don"t know why you like her so much, Gu-tan."

Its head tilted.

Sakaki"s expression turned cold as he glared at the teddy bear.

"Father, since you insulted milady, you will pay with your life!"

"How frightening. How frightening. See, even Tatsue"s scared.”

Actually, Tatsue was afraid of her father in her arms.

"Whatever, let"s move on. Me, I don"t care who you take as your wife, Gu-tan. Your mother actually came from a slum in America, and besides, the organization isn"t run by wives. But, as it is now, no one would stay quiet. They"d say the lady"s background is questionable and that she is not worthy to be the head"s wife."

"Just eliminate those fools, father!"

"No way, that would be too troublesome. Since most of those idiots are famous, I"d have a lot of problems dealing with the aftermath!"

Hearing these unpleasant words, Tatsue secretly sighed at another direction. Sakaki acted as if he didn"t notice and kicked at the ground restlessly, seeming to be in the mood for a fight.

"Then what? You ---- would have me leave milady? Since I am so kind, I"ll tell you my decision right now. If I have to choose between this company and milady, I"d pick milady without any hesitation."

"How stupid, to give up your inheritance for a woman..." Tatsue probably didn"t understand what was going on, and took Sakaki"s rant as truth. "Th-then, onii-san"s decision to not inherit the company is exactly what I"ve dreamed of!"

"Tatsue, stop acting tough. Your knees are shaking." Sakaki quietly looked downward.

"......Oh."

Tatsue"s back was stiff with fear, and she gritted her teeth reluctantly. The Sakaki Organization held enormous power, and inheriting its might would take far more ability and willpower than that possessed by a normal person. Tatsue had only recently turned fifteen. She was only in high school, and definitely did not hold such a level of wisdom or maturity. "Okay, in short". The teddy bear ---- Ganhō ---- nonchalantly gave his conclusion in the frightening monotonic synthetic voice.

"You say you can only love Usagawa Rinne, and the people around me say she"s not good enough. Then isn"t it easy? Yup. Just make Usagawa mature. Turn her into a woman acceptable as the lady of the Sakaki Organization. I"ve prepared a lot for this. And since you two want to marry as soon as she graduates, have her use her time in school to improve in every aspect."

After hearing these words, Sakaki was forced to remember his own h.e.l.lish upbringing, and frowned.

The training that would cause Rinne to mature ---- that would be exceedingly harsh, and the mere thought of it disgusted Sakaki.

Her close friend just died. She was in an unstable mood. What would happen if she were to suffer even more?

"Father."

Sakaki showed a serious face. He said calmly, "If you subject milady to that sort of inhuman preparation, I would not hesitate to overthrow you. Do not forget, that moment will be the moment when you and I part ways forever."

The teddy bear did not respond, possibly having said all that it wanted, and beckoned Tatsue to leave. The men in black followed, saluting Sakaki before disappearing down the road.

Tatsue looked back at the end.

For the first time, she showed a human expression filled with worry. "Guryū-onii-san, be careful."

Sakaki did not respond as he turned toward Rinne"s home, walking over the poorly paved road.

"No problem, no problem, Guriko-chan worries too much. It"s fine, because I"m really good at cooking and using the kitchen knife. Ah... mmmhmm, hahaha."

"Blood! Wait, Rinne, you"re slicing your own finger! Blood, blood... Calm down, don"t force yourself to try to cook. Sakaki and I don"t need to eat anyway. If you weren"t immortal, you"d be in a lot of trouble from cutting your fingers!"

Guriko was truly at a loss for what to do.

Near Kannonsakazaki Private High School, which Rinne and Guriko attended and where Sakaki worked, past the shopping district and a small, b.u.mpy road – stood the apartment building where Rinne lived.

With walls that seemed like they would collapse with a light knock, this shabby building had an extraordinarily cheap rent. She lived in a apartment with – counting the bathroom – 7.5 square meters of s.p.a.ce, and next to her lived a self-proclaimed musician, an older girl whose face reflected tough times.

Ever since Katō Katsumi was murdered by an unknown killer, Rinne had holed up inside this room without taking a single step outside.

As one would expect, the shadow of the murder grievously damaged her heart. For immortal people, the mind was a place of weakness. Since physical pain is no longer felt, they are more easily hurt by emotional anguish.

Yes. Three days ago, what was probably the first murder in Kannonsakazaki had occurred. The victim"s name was Katō Katsumi. Like Rinne and Guriko, she was a student at Kannonsakazaki Private High School, who had formed an unbreakable bond with Rinne since middle school.

Shortly after parting from Rinne in front of a coffee shop, she had been brutally murdered by someone. Indeed, the method was quite merciless; she had been violently slammed against a stone wall and ground. Guriko didn"t care so much since she was already used to death and corpses. The one who suffered was Rinne. As the last person to have seen Katsumi, she was thoroughly questioned. Over and over again, the fact that Katsumi died was shoved at her.

What kind of feelings did she have?

Rinne, in this state, appeared no different from how she was before at first glance. She smiled like before, and though her voice trembled a bit, she seemed far from insane. But those were obviously only her attempts at stoicism. Not only were her actions more sluggish, her expression was also fixed at a barely maintained fake smile. As if insisting there"s nothing wrong, she tried to cook, but only created failure that caused problems for Guriko.

People who had eaten an Apple would slowly lose their sense of taste. Any sort of feelings of hunger, emptiness, or pain from an empty stomach would also disappear. Therefore, Rinne"s actions were completely meaningless. But Guriko thought this could at least help turn her mood around, and so wordlessly accepted the behavior.

And so, Rinne stopped preparing a dish out of her fingers without losing that small smile, but as soon as she began to rest, the doorbell rang.

"Sakaki?"

Guriko mumbled to herself, staying cautious as she walked over to open the door.

"Guriko, is milady alright?"

As expected, there stood a handsome man with blue eyes and blond hair who seemed more like a piece of art. He grabbed Guriko"s shoulders and forcefully shook her, while she sighed with her eyes half closed.

"What do you mean "Is she alright?", it"s not like she"ll die. Stop panicking and calm down. And stop shaking me, I feel like throwing up. Really, as soon as anything involves Rinne, you immediately lose all common sense."

Guriko called at Rinne, but when she turned to look, she noticed that Rinne had suddenly collapsed.

"Rinne?" Sakaki"s eyes widened, with an expression appropriate for the apocalypse. "Ah, ah ---- milady! Milady died!"

"She didn"t die, calm down! And, stop shaking me or I"ll gouge out your eyes, idiot!"

As Gankyū Eguriko endured the shaking, she prepared her spoons.

"She"s definitely extremely tired."

With a head of her distinguishing wolf-like hair, eyes deep like the barrel of a gun, and with the brutal name "Gankyū Eguriko", this immortal girl had lived for over a thousand years. Once, due to some random event, she had changed her name to True • Gankyū Eguriko, but, giving the practical reason that it was too hard to p.r.o.nounce, she reinstated her original name.

This uncute girl who lived with Rinne for certain reasons placed the collapsed girl on prepared bedding, and started talking, "If you feel stressed, your body reacts accordingly. You would get a stomach ache, vomit, or get a headache. However, people who have eaten an Apple won"t feel those. So, they push themselves to their limit, until they can"t take it anymore and collapse. Really, if your friend dies, isn"t it alright to bawl your eyes out? No one would blame her."

Guriko looked at Sakaki, who walked closer, and silently held the shoulders of the fast-asleep Rinne and gave her to Sakaki. He wasn"t sure what to do and just held her, feeling that her powerless form was exceptionally vulnerable.

"Guriko?"

"I don"t understand friendship or love."

Guriko showed a sad expression, and she began to clean the blood-splattered simple kitchen. Probably trained by Rinne, Guriko had gained the ability to clean and do laundry. Yet a thousand years" emptiness had, in the end, erased from her any form of emotion or common sense.

As if reciting text, Guriko nonchalantly said, "I don"t understand, I forgot. So there"s no way I can comfort Rinne, which is frustrating......All I can do is annihilate Rinne"s enemies. I definitely can"t cure the scars burnt into Rinne"s heart."

She then turned toward Sakaki with those lonely eyes that, according to Rinne, seemed to be very similar to Sakaki. "So, I"m a bit jealous of you."

Was he really similar to her? Compared to Guriko, who admitted that she could only defeat Rinne"s enemies but could not heal her pain, wasn"t he only able to comfort Rinne without any way to fend against Rinne"s enemies? Sakaki pondered this.

Helpless, Sakaki held Rinne tightly, and Guriko looked at them with concern. Rinne"s closed eyes brimmed with tears; was he unable to save her, even in her dreams? Her face looked devoid of blood, and her fingertips were abnormally cold. To warm her up, Sakaki held her even closer.

Sakaki instinctively spat out insults.

"How repulsive, just who was it that killed Katō?!"

"How would I know?"

As she washed the cutting board with dishwashing liquid, Guriko crooked her head and said, "Although, just by looking at the facts, the culprit shouldn"t be a normal person. Possibly some super-strong man or an animal. Or it"s--"

She turned on the faucet.

"A monster."

Monsters, those things that quietly lived outside the world of people like Sakaki, alien that overstepped the boundary of understanding. During the events in the month before, Sakaki encountered quite a few monsters. The most powerful of them was large enough to flatten buildings with each step.

Katsumi"s tragic death truly didn"t seem to be caused by humans.

Sakaki"s mood worsened, but he still said uneasily, "Anyways, it"s best to stay cautious. After all, we haven"t confirmed the culprit. Hopefully it"s some criminal that the police can handle... Guriko?"

He carelessly looked over, and noticed Guriko"s grim gaze toward the entrance. Her expression was strange, as if she was shocked, staring at the door with stiff face.

"What is it?"

"Someone"s here."

Guriko replied curtly.

Sakaki"s eyebrows scrunched together. "Could it be the mailman? Or... the murderer?"

Even though he felt it was unlikely, he couldn"t deny the possibility. Guriko firmly gripped her three spoons. Whether in the past or now, her weapon of choice had always been spoons.

"I don"t know. Don"t talk, someone will hear you. Although, I don"t think it"s a monster."

Possibly listening for activity, Guriko"s face turned beast-like, instinctively searching out enemies and avoiding danger. That was the first-rate caution developed over a millennium.

"Humans, two of them."

Guriko was incredulous. Humans - and since there were two, it probably wasn"t that self-proclaimed musician woman who lived next door. And it shouldn’t be Rinne’s friends since students had already been instructed to avoid going out without good reason. And Guriko definitely did not have anything that could be considered even similar to a friend --

As Sakaki thought this, the doorbell rang. After a glance from Guriko, he cautiously walked toward the entrance. They planned so that even if Sakaki was knocked down by a surprise attack, Guriko could repel the intruders. That is to say, Sakaki was bait -- "living sacrifice" might also be accurate. He tried to put on a calm voice as he asked, "who is this?"

"We"re with the Sakaki Organization."

"Please leave," Sakaki immediately declared, turning his back to the door as he shrugged his shoulders and sighed to Guriko, "No need to be so careful, they aren"t people who matter."

"I see." Guriko obediently set down her spoons.

At that moment, the door was suddenly forced open. Although it wasn"t locked to begin with.

The pair standing on the other side of the door solemnly saluted.

"Though it was quite rude, please forgive my rudeness."

"Hino, that sounded weird."

"I"m Itsuwara Hino."

"My name is Itsuwara Kio."

Standing there were -- an exceedingly normal man and woman of about forty years of age, wearing a gray suit and a milky white outfit respectively. They were people who didn"t stand out, people the likes of whom one would probably brush past while walking in the city.

"What do you want?"

Sakaki looked at them with barely-concealed disgust. Since they were men of the Sakaki Organization, they must have been his father"s men. There was no way he could trust them.

The two people smiled tenderly, so much that they seemed unnatural. "A pleasure to meet you, Guryū-san."

"You"re in a good mood as always, it seems. Anyway --"

The man calling himself Kio smoothly pointed at Guriko.

"Today we have business with that young lady..."

Guriko was bewildered.

"..."

Colors distributed using an alien ratio cl.u.s.tered together. In simpler terms, toys with many different colors were in front of her. For some reason, it seemed like all children"s toys were purely made with primary colors, and it was painfully dazzling. The confusing red, blue, and yellow made one dizzy.

This was the shopping center called Chaos Zen Quiz -- an underground shopping street where all sorts of specialty shops and peddlers gathered. Probably since it was a holiday, customers were abundant, and Guriko almost got lost multiple times.

She had no interest in shopping, nor did she enjoy it, and she wanted to get as far away from this overcrowded place as possible. Plus, since Rinne had such a low income, she couldn"t go shopping often, and had never deliberately taken the bus to come three stations to this shopping center. This place seemed to Guriko like a different, miniature alien world.

The activity they did now all seemed like normal, human life, which made Guriko feel like she fit into modern j.a.panese society. Yet in this "Chaos Zen Quiz", there were too many things she had never seen. Was it really j.a.pan, just like Kannonsakazaki?

For example, Guriko was standing in "Witch"s Torture" for some reason, a specialty toy store with a name sounding like a finishing move, but completely she lacked knowledge on the toys arranged there. She tentatively picked up a nearby teddy bear. "So this is what they call a teddy bear?" And she sighed deeply with emotion.

"Ah, Guriko-chan, you like that teddy bear?" "Then everyone in the family can get a teddy bear. Wow, Guriko, you picked a teddy bear that"s just as cute as you are. Then I"ll pick a teddy bear that takes as much care of itself as I do, and Hino should a transformer torture bear that"s like Hino!"

"Really, you idiot Kio, that was too much!"

"Hahaha."

"....."

What"s going on now? These people have made enough noise, I really want to slaughter them. The Itsuwara couple, Hino and Kio, smiled gently behind the coldly grimacing Guriko, and one would find the excessive smiling somehow strange. With no reservation, they brightly said to Guriko, "Guriko-chan. You don"t have to be so polite, because we"ll be your parents. Just tell us if there"s anything you want, and talk with us if anything"s troubling you."

...My worries all stem from you two.

Facing the stiffened-up Guriko, Kio pushed his ideals forward again, "Guriko, girls usually name their teddy bear. Wanna try it out? Since common sense and standard social morals develop through things like this."

Common sense and standard social morals, huh?

Guriko refused to recognize those things. But, even so...

"A name? Yono."

With a serious face, Guriko looked at the teddy bear that looked like a delinquent acting cool. Hino smiled, saying some meaningless words of praise -- Oh, what an excellent name. Truly worthy of Guriko-chan --

What was going on now? Guriko pondered.

The Itsuwara couple, Hino and Kio, who suddenly appeared, claiming to be specially sent by the Sakaki Organization. Since they had identification, they probably weren"t lying. In this country, if someone tried to con others using the Sakaki Organization"s name, he"d suffer more than if he were arrested on the spot. The Sakaki name had that kind of power. Conversely, by a.s.sociating oneself with the Sakaki Organization, one"s position and respect was as good as guaranteed.

Guriko set the still-unconscious Rinne on the futon and let Hino and Kio sit down.

Even though they claimed to have business with her -- Guriko eyed them suspiciously. She was sure she had never seen them before.

The narrow, 7.5-square-meter room was filled with the scent of food. Since the kitchen was part of the room, it was impossible to eliminate the smell even if air freshener is sprayed every once in a while. Rinne was quite a meticulous and neat person, but it was impossible to deny that the undersized room would easily appear cluttered and messy. Between the wardrobe, the TV, textbooks and the like, and the kotatsu, even walking around was difficult.

"Common sense and standard social morals training?" Sakaki was bewildered.

"What did you say?" Guriko didn"t understand.

Hino smiled with happiness that almost seemed fake, as if saying "This is really great". With hands folded she continued, "Right, common sense and standard societal ethics training. That"s what it"s called. It"s like someone"s trying to act smart by using hard words."

"Yup, though it sounds like a legal term, it"s actually pretty simple."

Kio interjected with a cheerful voice. This couple were really similar.

"In simple terms -- no, using the most obvious and clear terms, it"s "Have Guriko-chan understand common sense" or ‘The Sakaki Organization won"t be able to help you either if you never live a normal life". So... That"s how it is."

His words made Sakaki"s expression change as the teacher disgustedly looked at Guriko.

"Guriko, what the h.e.l.l did you do?" "No clue."

She really had no idea what they were talking about. After all, she had only been living according to her own beliefs.

Then, with that giant smile, Hino was saying stuff that really shouldn"t be said while smiling.

"Guriko-chan isn"t someone who should be living with Usagawa Rinne-san."

Hearing this, Guriko"s eyebrow twitched a little. She was indeed someone who shouldn"t live with Usagawa Rinne.

I don"t need others to tell me something like that. I know that. From the start we only lived together out of practicality, since I had nowhere else to stay.

But I don"t want some outsider who doesn"t understand anything to tell that to me.

Guriko glared at them. Kio, completely unfazed, looked toward Sakaki.

"Guryū-san, Ganhō-san believes it is most important to begin fixing Usagawa-san"s surroundings. A person"s behavior will be greatly affected by her environment. If the environment is filled with trash, the stench will permeate the person. If she is surrounded by people using vulgar language, she will inevitably start speaking the same way."

"So we need to clean up her surroundings. By thoroughly fixing the things around Usagawa Rinne-san, it will be possible for her to mature in a sound environment." Hino picked up where Kio left off, making it seem as though they planned it in advance.

Sakaki"s face stiffened, contemptuously glaring at them. "Basically, Guriko"s a hindrance?"

Hino and Kio spoke together. "You are correct, Guryū-san."

"Why..."

Guriko couldn"t ignore this, and banged her fist on the kotatsu with flaming eyes. She made a loud noise, but Guriko still took care not to break it.

The teacups set on the table rattled and fell.

Guriko released the anger she held: "You... How am I a hindrance? Aren"t you saying that I"m a bad influence on R-Rinne?"

The words lacked her usual sharpness. Guriko vaguely felt that she had brought Rinne into an abnormal world. Granted, even if she did not appear, Rinne would have eventually noticed her Apple"s power. But in the end, it was Guriko who made this happen faster.

But, even so...

I don"t want Rinne to say she doesn"t need me or, even worse, think of me as a nuisance.

Yet Kio naturally said, "Yes, you"re quite a hindrance and a bad influence."

Toward this formality that was like defining simple English words, Guriko didn"t know whether to feel enraged or hurt. She looked toward Sakaki, whose face showed a confused expression as he remained silent.

"But," Sakaki spoke heavily and seriously in a low voice, "milady was saved thanks to Guriko. You cannot deny that."

"True, we know that."

"But right now, her influence is undesirable in many ways."

Hino shot a glance at Kio, who rapidly set onto the table several doc.u.ments from his bag. Guriko couldn"t resist looking at them, but the text was filled with complicated words made her head spin.

Hino explained with a bitter laugh: "These are the recent records of Guriko-chan causing injuries, breaking things, attempting murder, etc. Mmm, there"s really too much. Even though these incidents won"t be investigated since Ganhō-san"s handling them, this is truly too terrible even if you take into account fact that she"s a minor."

"Guriko isn"t a minor." Guriko nodded in consent with Sakaki"s words.

The Itsuwara couple were shocked, looking at each other as if asking "What"s going on?"

That"s right, Guriko was about a thousand years old. Even though she couldn"t remember the exact number, she should probably be the elder of every human on this land. At events like Shichi-Go-San people would eat thousand-year candies; the makers probably never imagined that someone would actually be that old. Though this isn"t relevant to what Hino was saying, it was still true.

Normally, beating someone up or attempting murder would result in punishment. That is justice. It is something that would be obvious with a little bit of thought. Yet, from the start, one shouldn"t expect Guriko, who had wandered for a thousand years, to have this kind of common sense or morals.

Guriko looked at Hino, who nodded her head as if understanding Guriko"s feelings.

"Right, developing common sense and standard social morals as the goal, we want Guriko-chan to stop doing that kind of bad things and become a normal person. You commit crimes far too frequently. Ganhō-san has decided that living with a person like that will definitely hamper Usagawa-san"s development."

To be honest, this makes a lot of sense.

And I don"t want to trouble Rinne if possible.

As if to let her relax, Kio gently smiled. "Obviously, you"ll be able to return immediately after the training finishes. When you learnt the common sense that you can use to become part of society and no longer bothered with living like a normal person, and it is decided that you no longer give Usagawa-san"s bad influences, the training will end."

"..."

Guriko thought about it: So it"s like this. I can understand. But the problem is, I want to stay be Rinne"s side. I don"t want to leave her -- Even though I understand the logic.

Guriko looked at Rinne who was sleeping, curled in the futon.

I can"t cause problems for her.

"Alright, I accept."

Guriko made her resolution. It shouldn"t take too long anyway, and time itself is unlimited. There is no rush. Nothing"s wrong with accepting their common sense and standard social morals training! Guriko thought this way.

Astonished, Sakaki turned toward her. "Is that alright? Guriko, if you really don"t want to do it, I can think of something."

"You"re too nosy. You have nothing to do with this. In short, I don"t want to trouble Rinne."

Hino and Kio"s faces lightened into similar and unrestrained smiles.

"Wah, thanks. Guriko, I"m really happy!"

"I, I, I"ll strive to become a superb mother!"

"I"ll also become a dependable father! Let"s go, it"ll get busy starting today!"

Guriko noticed something weird, looking without understanding at the two people who got incredibly happy on their own.

"Wh-what? What"s the meaning of this? What mother, father?"

"What?"

Kio, who was elated to shivers while embracing Hino, spoke of something absurd with an indignant tone: "Common sense and standard social morals training consists of Guriko living with us as our daughter! The plan is to slowly teach common sense and ethics through cohabitation!"

"There is much to teach, Guriko-chan! From today onward you are Itsuwara Eguriko! Waahhhh----"

Isn"t it a bit early to decide that?

Gankyū Eguriko -- correction, Itsuwara Eguriko sighed.

"That said, who is Itsuwara Eguriko?"

Things have gotten c.r.a.ppy, Guriko thought this as she sat in an Italian restaurant on a restaurant-filled street eating spaghetti. In fact, not only did Guriko have no appet.i.te, she didn"t even need food, so what she did was meaningless. But to prevent the Itsuwara couple, who knew nothing, from getting suspicious, it was best for the time being to momentarily reactivate the nerves in her digestive system, act like she was hungry, and let the food flow into her stomach. Back before she became immortal, she never thought stuffing down alien substances into herself could be so disgusting.

"Wah, Hino, this pizza"s on the level of national treasures! Call the chef over!"

"That pizza was definitely frozen! But it"s so good!"

"Guriko. It"s good, right?" "Guriko-chan, don"t you also think it"s good?"

They were also alien.

Their affection -- alien.

Swallowing it was a bit disgusting.

"..."

That"s right, to me these should be meaningless, unrelated people. They"re a couple that I didn"t even know yesterday. Their names are Itsuwara Hino and Itsuwara Kio. Aside from the fact that their personalities are ridiculous and over-the-top, they aren"t anything special, just a man and woman that can be found anywhere.

Guriko agreed to take the common sense and standard social morals training with that overly long name, and after entrusting the unconscious Rinne to Sakaki came along with these people. What followed was nothing but a series of new novelties and shocks. Was this normalcy? Guriko could not understand.

--It"s alright as long only you are unhappy--

Guriko recalled that time when she was still called Yono. A thousand years ago, when Guriko was genuinely human, without anything like immortality.

Guriko had been adopted into a household, and received cold treatment from the family members. She thought this was alright, since they gave her food to eat and at night time they helped prepare bedding for her. When her older brother was in a good mood he would even play with her. But she often felt an indescribable loneliness. When she noticed it, she was all by herself.

Over and over again, her parents would say to her that it"s alright as long as she is unfortunate. Though Guriko felt hurt, she still accepted it completely, and she felt that this was the normal relationship between parent and child. The parental relationships that Guriko knew, that remained in her memory, were dry and without feeling, like the relationships between a pack of beasts.

But --

Guriko lightly stroked the teddy bear on her leg, that one called Yono. Rinne seemed to have said before that she wanted a teddy bear. But I never thought the day would come when I would get one.

Even though she didn"t particularly want one.

For some reason, she didn’t want to throw it away either.

Toy stores, clothing stores, stationary stores; they went to every type of store and bought everything they needed. Guriko bought three shirts, shoes, and things which she had always wanted but never thought to buy: high quality spoons that didn"t come from a dollar store.

She never expected a day to come when she didn"t need to steal and could obtain her own things legally. This teddy bear was Guriko"s, and Guriko"s alone.

Thinking like this, her mood suddenly improved.

So--

"Ugh."

While suppressing her urge to vomit, Guriko forked down her spaghetti. Giant bite after giant bite, she ate expressionlessly, and then politely said, "It"s not bad."

Just this much was enough for them to heartily laugh.

"Wah! Guriko seems to like it too!"

"This restaurant really is the best! Even though it"s a chain restaurant!"

"Call the chef over! Call the chef over!"

Really, why are they so idiotic, I"ve had enough. I don"t accept them as my family. But... This doesn"t really feel bad.

Can I find a way to treat them as my parents? No, that"s impossible. There"s no way today, but maybe one day I"ll be tricked by this irredeemable, ridiculous kind of atmosphere. I can"t be sure if I will one day form some illusions from this.

"Yono died a thousand years ago."

She stroked the teddy bear as she spoke softly.

"Ever since then, I"ve always been Gankyū Eguriko. I... can I already stop using that freakish name? I don"t know... Do I want to? I can"t figure it out."

Guriko"s was not good with thinking, so she just decided to leave her worries for tomorrow. Her time won"t run out, anyways. Back to the present, it was enough to go along with this situation that can only be described as disastrous.

Kio looked at Guriko, whose head was lowered, and his expression was like he stuck gold. "Wah, Guriko! There"s sauce stuck on the corner of your mouth! I"ll wipe it off for you!"

"That"s my job, Kio! Move!"

"-- Let"s get wiping together!"

And so Guriko ended up in this doubly-being-wiped situation, becoming aware of the peculiarity in the corner of her mouth as her muscles moved a little. Unable to believe it, she pushed aside the napkins pressed to her and placed her fingers on the corner of her lips.

She understood. And as a result felt somewhat surprised.

"I"m... smiling."

Guriko smiled very faintly. Such a rare occurrence, and in front of people she met for the first time today to boot.

Apparently, she actually was enjoying herself.

"Whoa, Guriko smiled! It"s so cute, I"m gonna collapse!"

"Same here! Ah--Guriko LOVE, LOVE! Mmmmmmmm...."

After finishing their weird noises the two pretended to faint, causing nervous murmurs from the other customers.

Even though this wasn"t her desire at all, Guriko seemed to feel a little joy.

That night.

"Art."

In an empty park.

"Art -- Yeah, misery taken to the limit will be called beautiful art."

A ball abandoned by children after they finish playing, sad-looking playground equipment that seemed to absorb the silent desolation. A messy sandpit. Inside this slightly small park, there was a bench in front of the water fountain.

"Obscene, vulgar, base, filthy -- corpses that normal people hate without reason can shine as art. Hahaha. It"s true, the beautiful human corpse is beautifully artistic. Lavish and wonderful, miserable and wonderful, cruel and wonderful. Ahh, what"s going on, why is a heartless person such as me unable to suppress my body shuddering with excitement!"

A female was sitting there.

"How about a toast to this beauteous night? The full moon and stars are all so beautiful, so how about a toast with sweet wine? Let’s use death of the highest quality to make people shiver."

Pieces of human flesh were scattered around her.

Under the lamppost that struggled to keep shining, the woman weaved words in a honey-sweet voice without speaking to anyone in particular. Signs of life were completely gone in this playground in the residential area after sundown and no one noticed this b.l.o.o.d.y, brutal scene. Flesh and blood surrounded the woman on the bench. Those were the only two things scattered around. Just what kind of flesh was it? It was impossible to tell by looking at the pieces, but that glossy red flesh was still fresh, steaming in the chilly winter air.

With some light from the moon, stars, and lamppost the flesh looked a bit brown, and the blood lying all around had turned completely black while seeping into the ground. This was a scene that lacked a sense of reality, leaving only a ruthless stillness.

As if appreciating a famous painting, the woman merely sat silently, watching.

“I really want to keep –”

She sighed.

"Looking at this -- Ah, I made something awesome! No, wait, that"s too arrogant. The creators of this work are none other than you who have become corpses. I am only the lucky one who can appreciate the art before it rots."

Truly, how many wonders are hidden within this Earth? She can’t see this entire world no matter how long she lives. Simply, this woman loved this wondrous world.

The only things that could be heard were the horn of a distant car, the wind, and the rustling of the leaves on the park"s trees. The world was covered in darkness, appearing rather mysterious.

There was only the shadow of a building, park"s gravel ground with cobbles mixed within, and a group of moths attracted by the scent of blood.

“Moths -- ah."

The woman sighed again. Every time she did so, a sound would come from her mouth similar to the sound of a teapot releasing steam.

That would be expected, because a mask was covering her mouth. It was not for preventing colds or allergies; rather, the clear purpose was to block dust or toxic gas. The unusually-shaped hard mask seemed especially out of place on her graceful appearance.

Thanks to a mask, it was hard to see her expression, and her age was uncertain though she seemed to be between 25 and 29. Slim yet dangerous, she reminded one of a sharpened blade. Over her thin, tender body, she wore extremely revealing clothes.

A tank top with angel wings printed on the back hid a girl-like body that belied her outer appearance. It was winter now, but her snow white skin was completely free of gooseb.u.mps. The only thing barely covering her waist area was a pair of jean shorts that stopped at mid-thighs.

A head of flawlessly pure white hair, untainted by anything; it was the color of fresh snow. The waist-length hair was tied into a ponytail. On her wrists she wore all sorts of bracelets, wrist guards, and colorful strips of cloth.

This strange looking woman"s eyes were the only parts of her that turned sinister, and she spoke into the darkness as she crossed her legs as if pondering something. She had a habit of speaking out loud to organize her thoughts, feeling that doing this let her sort out important points.

"Mushi... Ah, Mushi. That group of Mushi gathered and acted strangely last month, and though it quickly became peaceful again I don"t know what happened in the first place."

A breeze brushed past her hair.

"It is believed that the one responsible is the Apple holders living in this town. The four confirmed individuals are Usagawa Rinne, Sakaki Guryū, Gankyū Eguriko, and--"

As she spoke, she seemed to think about something.

"That person tried to steal their Apples by pretending to be and manipulating Mushi. Honestly. I didn"t think that clan still existed! This is ominous. Adam, Eve, and the Snake... The humans descended from Adam and Eve reproduced far too quickly to eliminate, but if the last descendant of the Snake causes trouble I can exterminate him."

The woman stared forward with a grave expression.

"I"ll start by taking Apples away from some suitable holders. If that works, I can ask about what happened at that time. Really, why do I have to do this kind of annoying business? I"m just the digestive organ. Seeking out the truth is G.o.d Insect Emperor"s job."

The others were just too lazy. It felt like she was doing all the work.

"This is so annoying. I"m going to tremble."

The woman allowed her body to shake, and then she hugged herself as if to protect herself. This was something she did without any particular meaning.

With a "Fshuu--Fshuu--" breathing sound coming from the mask, she muttered to herself, "Basically, it doesn"t matter which of those four. I"ll start by taking the Apples."

Then she looked at the pieces of flesh scattered in front of her, thinking, thinking, and came up with an idea.

"- Then, I really will need these pieces of flesh. Even though I don"t want to use these pieces of art on anything --"

"Wh-Whooa?"

A scream?

The woman"s expression instantly became alert as she turned toward the sound. The rapid movement made her hair swing rapidly. In her line of sight was --

"Eh, umm. These are corpses... Waahhh!"

The woman calmly watched this person. He was a male police officer in a blue uniform without any distinctive features, and didn"t seem to be an excellent cop. Shuddering, he pointed at the hands and guts and other body parts on the ground, and screamed before collapsing on the ground as his mouth opened and closed.

Did the police notice it? Of course police officers patrolled residential areas. Chances were Long-Armed Demon acted on her own too much, so the police had been especially alert recently.

"Long-Armed Demon, Apple holders, police----" The woman sighed with a "Fshuuu", and seemed to be exhausted as she shrugged her shoulders. "So troublesome."

Then she got up and turned to the policeman sitting paralyzed on the ground. He seemed to have just noticed her, and let out a stiff shout as he scooted backward on his backside.

"Don"t... Don"t tell me! Are you the L-long Armed Demon?"

"Ugh."

The woman frowned and walked slowly towards the man. "I"m not that prevented child. Now, my name is Saibara Mina, I really hate this name because -- it"s not cute."

After that, she took a spray can from somewhere and pointed it at the policeman. It was an extremely common spray can, simple and unlabeled. On the outside it didn"t look different from insecticide or deodorant that gets sold.

"Hmm."

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

The woman shook it while remaining still, shaking in a way that didn"t look special.

"If you want address me, please call me Sterilization Disinfection."

With a face like he"d seen a ghost, the police officer screamed loudly and frantically tried to crawl away and escape.

He knelt on the ground, screaming as he tried to get up, but his legs didn"t listen to his commands and he collapsed again. He seemed so scared that he couldn"t even control himself anymore.

"Fshuu" -- Mina sighed in resignation.

"What an unbearable policeman. No courage at all. He"s contaminating my field of view."

The policeman could not understand Mina"s words, screaming as he stood up.

"S - Senpai! Save me! Nageki-senpai!" Did he have companions? It would be troublesome if he called over too many people.

Mina quickly made her decision.

"Save me! L-Long Armed Demon, she"s the Long Armed Demon!" I’ve told you I’m not that person.

"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" Mina shook her spray can, and slowly turned to face the man.

"Let"s sterilize and disinfect."