Chapter 01: The immortal Boy and passing everyday Life
“Kyaa! Help me!”
“Shut up and behave!”
Seeing that sequence, I thought what a stereotypical scene it was.
In front of me were a couple of boys and a single female student that was caught with her hands tied behind her back.
“Listen, Node! Move even a finger and this girl is dead!”
“Noo— Save me!”
“…..”
—Actually, how did it come to this?
My mind forcefully tried to recall the origin of the events.
I actually wanted to do so myself, so I didn’t give an objection.
July had come.
Seasonal it was the end of the rainy season, but the dark clouds that had occupied the sky for the last month had vanished, colouring the sky in a dark blue, derived from other colours. The sun emitted strong rays as to display it’s own duty, gradually roasting my body.
What was up with this heat? It felt like I was in an open toaster. No, this wasn’t an accurate comparison, but more like a figurative one. A pincer attack from the sunlight above and the asphalt that heated up by absorbing it, violated my mind, bereaving it of the will to study. It made me consider to turn on my heels and return home, but I was attending school with the money from my older sister, whom I lived together with. I couldn’t afford to skip. Besides, the municipal Meitou Academy I attended thankfully had air conditioners installed in the classrooms. In other words, as long as I endure the trip to the classroom, heaven was waiting for me. Time-wise, I just had to endure this ascesis for three minutes.
“…is not good!”
“Huh!? Say what!”
What was happening in his frigging heat so early in the morning… I raised my head and looked, whereupon I saw a group of people apart of the mass of students on their way to school while fighting against the heat like myself.
“Not a nice way…”
Sakuragaoka was a public school near Meitou Academy, but it was famous for the bad attitude and grades of it’s students. Many of them were vicious and there was a unconfirmed rumour that 80% of the graduates got devilish jobs. Due to the proximity, some of Meitou Academy’s students had been target and harmed by the guys from Sakuragaoka. Just taking their money would be one thing, but they even picked fights or bullied to kill time. There were various reports about victims, like being dragged through the town tied to a bike, being stripped of all clothes or being tied to the front gate of Meitou Academy until morning. For the students of Meitou Academy, they were only an object of fear.
Still, they must be really bored, seeing as it was so early in the morning. While thinking so, I too tried to avoid—
I stopped.
“The heck’s up with ya? What’re ya to him!?”
“I’m attending the same school as him!”
“Huh!? Just that!?”
“Yeah! So, why did you hit him? What did he do wrong?”
“…Yeah, he did.”
“Ya see, we’re short on money. We’re like seriously poor. So we talked about lending us a bit of pocket money, but he refused, ya know. I was just so sad, that I unconsciously… ya know.”
“…Is that so.”
“Okay, I understand.”
“Then I’ll lend you some.”
One these words, not only the boys were puzzled, but me as well. For a moment, we didn’t know what she meant. The female student reached into the pocket of her skirt and took out a wallet in a light pink colour. Checking the contents, she tried to take out a couple of bill and groaned a bit. When she withdraw her fingers for a moment, she nodded and took out all bills. While holding them out to the boys, she said.
“…Seriously?”
The boy, turning around to his friends and uttering that, turned back right away and alternatively looked at the female student and money. After he confirmed that the girl apparently wasn’t saying that as a joke or lie, he smirked.
“No problem.”
…Oh boy, I grumbled. I had wondered what would happen, but to think it would develop into this.
“Are you stupid?”
“Kugi-chan!”
The boys turned around all at once. I sighed while massaging my temples.
Forcefully shoving aside the guys that glared at me with question marks, I snatched away the bills from the hand of the female student.
On my words, the female student— Kuon Rin tilted her head.
“Just do it.”
“Oh my, what’s up, Kugi-chan? Will you lend them the money?”
“What do you mean?”
I sighed and took Rin’s arm.
Then I said to the unknown male student sitting on the ground.
The male student was absent-minded for a while, but jolted up on my words, then left the place with a “H- Hii!” shriek.
“Eh, but Kugi-chan, they need—”
A rough hand grabbed me on my shoulder. I said peacefully without turning around.
“Say what?”
“Bastard, ya pickin’ a fight!?”
I only turned around my head. In that moment, the frightening look of the boy glaring at me crumbled.
“You’re the ones, who’re picking a fight.”
“I suppressed my sleepiness and diligently went to school, so stop ruining my mood with your idiotic behaviour.”
He did his best to counter. But hearing an advice from his friend from behind, the boy changed the colour of his face.
“Wha— Node Kugito!?”
“Node Kugito means… the one controlling all nearby high schools—”
“From what I heard, he beat up a store clerk that accused him of shop-lifting and even knocked out more than 20 other customers that came to stop him…”
“His police file apparently has written ‘A minor that might cause a serious crime in the future that will shake the whole country’ in it!”
“Rather than exaggerating a rumour, they gave it a whole new story…”
“Don’t believe it!”
Geez— Well, the boys looked really frightened, so it worked out in my favour.
“H- Hiii! He even swings that way!”
On my roar, the boys cowered away in fright and one of them used abusive language with “F- Fuck!”.
“Huh? Wanna go at it?”
Then he looked at his friends as to give them instructions— All of them shook their heads and apparently decided to retreat.
Leaving behind an out-of-date sharp parting remark, they left.
“You sure are famous, Kugi-chan.”
“But… I wonder if they’ll be alright without money.”
Saying so, I looked wearily at Rin.
“What?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I made a somewhat bitter smile.
Becoming classmates with me in our second year, Rin became unmindful attached to me, a cranky guy with a vicious character, which was quite questionable. I asked the reason for it before, but… even so I had a hard time accepting it. Well, that aside now.
“…Yeah, sorry.”
Making a wry smile, I lightly hit Rin’s head.
The culprit was called the ≪cross-slashing Devil≫ by the mass media from the fact that he always left a cross shaped wound on his victims, got the nickname ≪Midnight killing Devil≫ on the internet and threw society into an uproar, but was caught soon after attacking Rin. As he was a minor, it was only known that he was a student living in the capital. At large, it was accepted as that.
Until just recently, I had been the same, so I was in no position to complain.
Rin had been bothered by a curious lot right after her recovery, but probably because I was always around her, their numbers decreased soon enough and now none of them were left. If it hadn‘t been Rin, I would have remained a bystander, but… I just couldn‘t leave her alone. Besides, I couldn‘t really say that I was completely unrelated to the incident that involved Rin.
“By the way, where’s Kirisaki-san?”
“Who knows. Guess she’s already at school.”
“…..”
“…Well, it’s annoying how she clings to me all the time anyway.”
Rin nodded assenting.
Well, in her case though, she was troublesome in a different way from Rin…
“Ah, class’ going to start.”
Rin nodded to my words and started walking. I too was going to follow her, whereupon—
I froze up on the voice calling out to me.
A single female student was hurrying over to me with her breath out of order. Her hair cut around the tip of her shoulders, her skin white as porcelain and her finely chiselled features that made you gulp—. With that appearance she could pass off as some kind of high-class lady. Yes, just speaking by appearance.
The female student came rushing over to my side with a smile.
I waved to Rin, who had stopped and turned around to me, to go on ahead. Waiting until she was gone, I faced forward.
“Good morning, Node-san.”
“Yay!”
“Ugh!”
“K- Kirisaki, you…”
The female student— Kirisaki Kyouko said so with a refreshing smile while stirring up my insides with her blade.
At the same time the first period ended, I used the short break to forcefully drag Kirisaki to the deserted back of the gym. Thanks to the shadow of the building, the sun wasn‘t so strong anymore, but in exchange there was a discomforting hot humidity.
After Kirisaki made a confused expression, she suddenly widened her eyes as she realized something and put her hand on her mouth.
Blushing and averting her eyes, she fidgeted her toes against each other.
“Did the heat melt your brain?”
“Either way, stop talking like that. There’s no one but us here right now.”
Easily overthrowing her attitude on my cue, Kirisaki got a haughty tone, which was completely different from before.
“You’re still talking about the same stuff, just with a different tone!”
“Ow.”
“How rude. As the saint Lady I am, I can’t really let that slide.”
“Here. This one!”
Saying so, I grabbed Kirisaki’s head on both sides and shook it with all my might.
After shaking it to my heart’s content, I released her. Kirisaki babbled nonsense with “The world… The world is spinning. It’s the boundary to multiverse…” while staggering.
“The boundary to multiverse? Based on the possibilities of commonly known parallel universes—”
I said while looking a head down to Kirisaki.
“Overboard? What you mean?”
On my words, Kirisaki raised an eyebrow.
“Going by these numbers, it would mean that eight people die every day.”
“Only insurer would be happy to hear that.”
Mumbling so and looking down, Kirisaki entwined her fingers near her stomach.
More or less, she seemed to reflect on her actions. I made a light sigh.
But, I continued.
“I do, but on reflex—”
I said wearily.
“…Mh, right.”
“Well, as long as you understand—”
…It was hard to explain the relationship between this girl, Kirisaki Kyouko, and myself, Node Kugito, with one word.
To be precise, it was Kirisaki that courted me. And not just as a lover—
Simply said, Kirisaki was a ≪stabbing Maniac≫.
But for Kirisaki it was slaying. Stabbing a person, gouging the flesh and touching the insides— that was the only way to restraint Kirisaki’s sexual urge.
To be truth, the girl in front of me was the real ≪Midnight killing Devil≫. Of course the captured culprit committed various incidents. But he was just a copycat criminal.
Because I was an ≪immortal boy≫.
Even if I was stabbed, cut, jumped off a tall building, run over by a 4t truck or stayed in a room full of gas, I would never die. As for why I had a body like that, I would like to know that as well. Ever since I could remember, it had been like this. Due to the vicious looks I was born with, delinquents from all kinds of school picked fights with me, but I never retaliated and they just collapsed on their own, which raised weird rumours like a dawn thanks to due my body.
It was impossible to stop Kirisaki from murdering. Even if she was caught by the police, put into rehabilitation as a minor and got out there— In time she would repeat the same thing. Pretty much like you couldn’t prohibit people from having sex or masturbate forever.
I knew that Kirisaki’s sin could never be forgiven. But even so, I couldn’t hate Kirisaki from the bottom of my heart. It might be because she loathed what she did herself as something hideous. Killing, even though she didn’t want to. Hurting, even though she didn’t want to— Kirisaki must have lived her whole life with that dilemma.
I couldn’t decided if that was alright or not. But I believed it to be an option.
“Promise?”
“At school, only one stab per day. Also, don’t use your knife in public.”
“No. Only one.”
“…. Only one.”
“I did not! Don’t make assumptions! Say what you want, but it’s only one!”
Kirisaki nodded, even while puffing up her cheeks a bit.
“Yep, yep. I’m glad you’re quick to understand.”
“Oh… Time to go. Well, we have an agreement now.”
I raised my hand with “I’m going on ahead” and tried to leave.
“…What?”
“Well—”
“….Let me stab you one last time before the promise?”
Thin fabric flattered softly. When she raised her skirt, the all too familiar bear imprinted panties came into vision. Kirisaki drew her favourite knife from the holster on her thigh—
and merciless thrust it into my side.
A dull pain ran through my body. When I glared at her with “You little!”, Kirisaki showed a cheerful smile.
She didn’t understand it after all.
A whistle sounded.
The athletic ones easily jumped over them, but the others got entangled in them many times. Every time, they suffered wounds, but stood up while enduring the pain. The outline of athletic abilities could also be a miniature copy of life.
At any rate, was there any meaning in testing the physical strength by jumping over hurdles?
“Ah, a truant.”
“I’m not a truant.”
“Somehow I didn’t have difficulty to not pull myself together, so I discreetly told the teacher that I didn’t feel no headache while glaring at him a tiny little bit, whereupon he said with a drawn face that I should rest.”
“Idiots are useful.”
“It’ll have cooled down then. Anyway, what’s up with these clothes?”
I see. Still a weird style.
“Really? What a strange person.”
“5000yen per hour for what?”
Rin tilted her head ignorant and shifted her gaze forward, whereupon she said “Ah”.
I followed her gaze and indeed there was standing a familiar girl at the starting position. That itself wasn’t strange, as the physical tests at our Meitou school were conducted in co-ed. What was strange however was her action.
Just when I thought that, she got entangled on a hurdle near the goal and tripped grand. Our classmates hastily rushed over. They called out to her with Are you okay? or Are you hurt?, whereas Kirisaki stood up while wiping off the sand and showed a smile.
One female student praised Kirisaki, who took a depressed breath, with “That’s not true. You’re good. Until midway you had the best time, even counting in the boys”.
A couple of students gave the humble Kirisaki words with the meaning that she didn’t really had to apologize. While having various people worry about her, Kirisaki started running for the goal again.
Completely different from her usual character.
Well, it wasn’t like she was acting a different character to deceive other, but only did so to avoid unnecessary troubles within the class. In reality I thought she was doing well. A feat that I couldn’t pull off. But when I, knowing the truth, saw her turning her face downward with downcast eyes and “Oh no…”, I felt like taking the back on my head and slamming it onto the ground while saying “GAW!”.
“Mostly. You just watch quietly.”
“…Hey, Kugi-chan.”
Watching Kirisaki, Rin said.
“Yeah? Didn’t she always do?”
“…Mhm~”
“What?”
“A distance?”
…I was a bit surprised. For Rin, that was a really sharp observation. Looking at my face, Rin made a wry smile.
I had heard about that already before. Apparently Rin temporarily received something similar to bullying because of her mindset of volunteering. Well, even now she conveniently used as an errand-girl. People really hated easily understood benevolence. For example, there were guys that insulted a person that held a donation box as a hypocrite, that there was no proof that anyone would be saved by doing that. But I believed that those, who didn’t do anything, had no rights to deny those, who were trying to do something. Therefore I honestly thought that Rin was remarkable and one of the few people I respected in the world. But even so, there were people, who didn’t even try to understand people like Rin. That was reality.
“Really? …I can’t tell.”
Ahh… I kind of consented. With me by her side, Kirisaki no longer needed to suppress her self. Therefore she might show a bit more emotions than before.
“…Why?”
“F- Forget it.”
But for some reason Rin then averted her eyes awkwardly and started to fidget around. Her face was a bit red.
“Eh? Ah, yeah. Ehm… I’m fine.”
“Eh, y- you don’t need to, I’m fine.”
I said so and stood up.
“U- Uhm, Node…-kun.”
I had spoken to him normally, but he cowered away.
“No, don’t apologize all of a sudden. Who’re you?”
Saitou… Saitou—
“I, I see. Ehm, you helped me today…”
“It wasn’t me, but Kuon. Say your thanks to her.”
“What, got more to say?”
“What’s that?”
“By whom?”
“I asked by whom.”
Saitou said so with a shrill voice and forced the paper onto me.
“…What was that.”
“A love letter?”
“Might be.”
“It was rather unpleasant.”
“What about class?”
“I see.”
“Huh?”
“Look at me. It’s bloomers! Per school rules, we must wear this thing that’s already specified as a protected species in this school. What do you think about it!”
“Unexpectedly, yes. Especially during the rainy season it’s— wait no. You think I wanted such an ordinary talk?”
“There’s a lot to say! Like, are you the type to wear no bra under gym clothes? Or like, the sight of bloomers encroaching into the hips after a fierce workout are worthy to be one of Japan’s three most moe sights!”
“Well, to be frank, I want to know if it arouses you.”
“What? You don’t feel anything from a high school girl’s sweat-wet gym clothes… Are you okay?”
“Or wait. Are you saying you can’t be satisfied unless you put your fingers into the crack of the encroached bloomers and fix it? To think you had such a fundamental, yet hardcore fetish…Fine. I’ll play out any situation for your desires. Incidentally, do you prefer the gym clothes tucked into the bloomers? Or leave them outside?”
“N- Not fair!”
“By the way, what’s written on there?”
Remembering with Oh right, I opened the paper. I read the letters on it.
“What’s up?”
I shook my head.
“Show me.”
“…’To Node Kugito. You’re getting cocky, so we’ll beat you up. If you got enough balls, kyam to the warehouse outside the city at four in the evening’. … What the? Kyam!?”
Kirisaki widened her eyes. “Wow” she shouted.
“Yep, that one. Truly a relict of the last century. A phantom that’s disappearing into the void brought forth by the mirage called the Showa Era.”
Raising her head, Kirisaki asked
“Obviously not going.”
“Ah, the valuable culture heritage.”
It probably were the guys from this morning. Like Kirisaki had said, they should just attack on their own if they had a problem with me. Why would I have to listen to their orders?
“What’re you going to do with that handkerchief?”
“…I see.”
I asked so, whereas Kirisaki made a face with unusual mixed feelings and said.
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
…What a weird girl.
“I’m home.”
Declaring my home coming to the quiet deserted living room was a habit of mine. When I left my bag on top of the table and looked at the clock, it was just before half past five. Not even her regular work was over yet.
I wondered when I started to prepare dinner or lunchboxes like this for my sister that came home late. Even the house chores that I learned by imitation at first, I could now do perfectly. My sister was a policewoman that worked at the general security department of the Meitou police station, mainly in charge of juvenile crimes. Thus her schedule was irregular and while she technically had appointed work hours, she rarely managed to come home by it. Usually she worked until 9/10 o’clock in the night or even until midnight when some kind of big incident happened. She was exhausting herself at work every day to feed me, so I was really grateful. Though due to that, she apparently didn’t have a single boyfriend at her age. When I touched that issue, I merciless got an iron fist, as well as kick and sometimes an argentine backbreaker rack, so I kept silent, really silent.
I gulped down the well-cooled tea at once. Fuah. I was living for this stuff. My sister urged me all the time to say that only after I found a job. But even students had times when they were tired and drinking something cool during heat made you say it. Seeking a comfort in your everyday life wasn’t just a privilege to adults.
In the past, my sister put sugar into my barley tea, telling me it would taste better with that. It was when we both were still young. When I asked her where she knew that from, the answer was our mother. Regretfully the barley tea from back then wasn’t to my tastes and was hit by my sister for spouting it out right away. The reason I remembered that so vividly was that it was the first time my sister spoke out the word mother. Thinking back on it, I got the feeling that she had just spilled it carelessly back then and tried to avoid using it as much as possible.
My mother died right after giving birth to me. I didn’t know why, nor did I ever ask. Neither would I probably do so from now on. Left behind were my sister, me and… our father.
At first, he restrained himself to just hitting me when he was annoyed. If I had been like any other kid, it might not have gone beyond that. But…
I rolled up the hem of my uniform. The spot, where Kirisaki stabbed me today, had already healed. A crust had formed, but it barely hurt anymore.
Even if I was hit or kicked, by the next day it was completely healed. My father gradually became afraid of me. He started treating me like a monster and the abuse towards me escalated. Before long, my father came to believe that my mother died because she gave birth to a monster like me. In reality, that might have been correct. At this point, I didn’t know anything.
My sister had always protected me. In the past, I once saw an album put away in the closet, so my sister properly inherited our mother’s looks. That might be the reason our father never laid hands on my sister.
To be honest, our mother wasn’t that big of an existence in my heart that my sister needed to be considerate about it. After all, I didn’t even have any memories of her face. No, not just about our mother. My sister was working hard on various other fronts too.
“There’s astonishing more to learn in your 20s than your 10s. Not just studying. Fall in love, make mistakes, make friends, brawl, get hated and make up. All these things cultivate you and while you might consider them worthless now, you’ll painfully realize later on how precious it was. So if you have time to work, go enjoy your youth to the fullest instead. You can dawdle along every day, just enjoy your student life as it is and it’ll be best repayment for my troubles.”
So every day, I cooked the food, washed the dishes, did the laundry, prepared the bath and went to school without missing a day even when I felt sluggish.
“…Geez.”
Wanting to watch some TV for a change of mood, I took the remote control. Just when I was about to switch it on, the phone rang. Calls at this time of the day were either advertisements, the mail order or a scam. While thinking that it wasn’t anything decent either way, I stood up and headed for the ringing phone, then took the receiver.
“Assholeeeeee! Don’t screw arouuuund!”
“I’m sure we didn’t borrow any money.”
What an incredible roll of the r. It seemed like his saliva would come through the phone.
“Wha! Eh? Seriously? …Ya’re Node, right?”
“It’s right after all, assholeee! You won’t trick me so easily!”
“Who the heck are you?”
“It’s meeeeee!”
“I told ya it’s meeeee!”
“I’m Yamagami, idioooot!”
“Dun know you. Bye.”
Before long there was a sound of a hand covering the receiver. But I could perfectly hear the background voices, though as mumbling.
A moment of silence. Then, a screaming voice.
“Right. Everything’s my fault. My bad. Bye.”
“Oh god, just spill it.”
Now I finally understood. The ones that forced that stupid challenge letter I got during today’s P.E. onto Gotou… Huh? Naitou? Mutou? Whatevertou, were them.
“Obviously we looked it up in the phonebooook!”
“Anyway, did’cha read the letter, huuh?”
“Then why ain’t you coming! We’ve been waiting the whole time, dude!!”
“Well, good job. I was in a bit of a pinch, you know.”
“You know, shopping for dinner.”
“Dinner.”
“Y- Ya- Ya bastard! Don’t mess with uuuss!”
“S- Say what, asshole! Th- There’re things you can say and things you can’t!”
“Aww, sure, sure. My bad for this morning. Sorry, okay. Peace again. Talking it out sure is nice.”
“Huh? You mean like extinguishing the heat of a fight?”
“We don’t need the police, god damnit!”
“Either way, I’m hanging up now. Good luck, on a lot of things. Work on your language.”
I had dealt with him half-heartedly, but on these words, I frowned.
As he thought that the tides finally changed in a favourable way for him, Yamagami (I think) restored his rough tone back to normal on my words.
“….What about the girl?”
“Listen well, Node. We got ya woman. If ya want her back, come to the warehouse now. Ya got 30 minutes. Be late and we can’t guarantee her well-being.”
“Cya!”
Now it was my turn to stop him. But the delinquent Yamgami ended the call right away. Damn you.
Speaking of a girl that hang around me lately and was likely to get caught by them… Rin?
I clicked my tongue. That was why I said nothing good would come out of being around someone like me. I regretted parting with Rin at school, since she said she would go clean the park.
I strongly hit the nearby wall and started running.
I could only head there for now.
Originally this place was a warehouse for the materials that weren’t needed at the nearby factory anymore. But now the factory itself shut down due to recession. As there was no interested party for it, the place was abandoned and turned into a meeting spot for the local delinquents and hoodlums. I too was suddenly approached in numbers, abducted and dragged to this place a couple of times when I walked around. As deserted as it was, it probably was the perfect spot for doing that.
“Hey, I’m here. Where’re you?”
“First they call me out here, then they ignore me…”
I curiously looked around in all directions, but there was no presence of anyone. For a moment I thought I was tricked, but if they were that clever, they wouldn’t give me such a cheap threat and challenge letter.
I shifted my gaze there.
It happened right after I said that. Suddenly a shock run over my head.
I inadvertently fell forward, but absorbed it by doing a step forward.
The moment I turned around, a clump of steel pipes attacked me from all four sides.
I was knocked down at once. The guys attacked me one after another while I still lay on the ground. My body was merciless hit with all kinds of weapons. I would be lying if I said it didn’t hurt, but well, it wasn’t unbearable. I used my usual tactic (?) and stayed still, waiting for them to get tired. And like expected, the beating ended before even ten minutes passed. I gasped for breath.
“Well, a normal guy would lose consciousness or at least be so gravely injured that he couldn’t move anymore.”
“Owah!”
Don’t give me a weird nickname.
I cracked my and looked at the hoodlums surrounding me.
“N- No!”
“Guess this much won’t get ya after all, Node!”
“That’s how it gotta be! For our festival now!”
“Exactly!”
“Yep!”
“Huh? Wat’cha mean?”
“I, I can’t stand them! Besides I don’t even know ya address, dude!”
Inadvertently Yamagami took out his cell phone from his pocket and tried to input it. But he hastily raised his head as she noticed something.
“Really? Well, I don’t want to be mail friends with you either.”
“…Just try.”
“D… Don’t make such a scary face, dude!”
“This morning I was scared by it’s power, but it’s different now. Don’cha care what happens to ya woman!?”
“Of course. We kidnapped her on the way home today. Keh, this happens when ya leave ya woman alone, dude.”
“Listen Node, listen real good. We’ll beat ya up now. But ya ain’t allowed to move a finger.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then this happens to the woman.”
“…Seriously?”
Saying so, Yamagami pulled out a big knife ou