Chapter 02: The immortal Boy and worrisome everyday Life
The next day.
Not like I cared about what kind of reaction she would give me.
However, the problem was that Kirisaki sat next to me.
The classroom was noisy and somewhat restless before the start of homeroom. But I just looked space-out at the stupid scribbling on the blackboard, whereupon the ruckus suddenly settled down.
For the time being, Kirisaki Kyouko was currently the most popular girl in class (amongst boys and girls). During her sham, she was creepily sociable, well-mannered and acted polite towards anyone. Moreover, her features were above average, so her popularity wasn’t all that unreasonable. You would think a few people would get jealous, but fortunately, no one tried to do anything suspicious so far. The main reason for it might be that her boyfriend was me.
Calling out to them like that, everyone naturally replied with the same words. A lot of them even said it before her. While Kirisaki replied to every single one of them, she reached my desk.
“…Yo.”
“Today we have such wonderful weather again.”
“And how is that a problem? It makes you feel that summer has come.”
“Then excuse me now.”
“Hey, Kirisaki.”
“Why did you snap out of the blue yesterday?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know, yesterday. After you beat the shit out of these guys.”
“…What’s wrong with you?”
It seemed like she wasn’t feigning ignorance, but seriously tried to make yesterday’s happening “non-existent”.
“If you will excuse me, Node-san, I have to take care of some things.”
“What’s with her…”
While I was full of confusion, Rin came in, crossing path with Kirisaki. She must have finished her usual morning cleaning before class. Looking over her back and tilting her head, she came over to me. Rin’s seat was diagonally in front of mine.
“Yeah, morning. Say, Kugi-chan, did something happen?”
“Really? But Kirisaki-san looked angry.”
“She’s angry? Why?”
I was at a loss for words upon hearing the word “again”.
“Not really… Or at least I think so.”
“Actually, she was really angry? It didn’t look like that, though.”
Rin placed down her bag and sat down in her chair.
“Something grave, huh…”
“Ah, you have a clue.”
“That’s not for you to decide, Kugi-chan. After all, people tend to overlook things, come to misunderstandings or end up committing terrible mistakes at unexpected occurrences.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s my mother’s teaching, though.”
“Well, you know, yesterday…”
I explained the chain of events to Rin. That said, I couldn’t tell her everything (especially not the part about Kirisaki beating up the delinquents like a berserker), so I only told her up to the point of Kirisaki being taken hostage and me trying to abandon her. Rin’s first reply was:
“…Well, if you think about it, I guess so. But she’s a lot stronger than you think. To the extent that delinquents aren’t a match for her. So I thought it would be alright… you know.”
“Say, did she mention me before she was angry?”
The fact that I was worried about Rin was hard to bring up, so I kept it a secret.
“Yep.”
“I said: Oh, is that so.”
“No, that’s all. I also said how she was a pain for not being clear about what she wanted to say.”
“Okay, I get it.”
“Yeah, but I won’t tell you.”
“I’m not going to say anything. You’ve to figure it out by yourself, Kugi-chan.”
“Me too?”
“Is that so. But I think that person was right.”
I ticked my finger irritated on the desk.
It’s nothing to be proud about, but since I was born, I didn’t have friends, so I’ve no clue about the subtleties of the human heart. Seriously nothing to be proud about, just laughable.
“And that’s a hint? Isn’t that obvious?”
I wracked my brain while saying “Huh?”. No, I was irritated. Why did I have to be so troubled over Kirisaki?
“Nope. If you’re going out with her, you’ve to figure it out and solve it by yourself.”
“…Besides, it would be frustrating to kindly tell you everything.”
“Nothing. Anyway, thing about it carefully.”
Well, relying too much on her kindness would be problematic too.
“Right.”
No, that wasn’t really the case.
Before I could say anything back to Rin, the chime heralded the beginning of class.
Kirisaki still didn’t look at me, even after she came back.
In the end, I didn’t find an answer after pondering the whole time. Aww, that’s why dealing with people is such a pain. Although I brought it upon myself.
So I had no alternative, but to part with Rin, who was going to pick up trash in the nearby public park, and go home.
“…Aww”
I tried to open the front door with my key… when I noticed that it was already unlocked.
Taking off my shoes, I went into the house and heard a voice from the living room.
“It’s rare for you to be back so early.”
“Nothing big was going on, so I left early. There are days like this.”
“It’s a new flavour!!”
“Eh? It’s enough reason.”
“No, it’s not.”
“But what?”
“You’re gravely mistaken if you think I’ll accept it just because you repeat it.”
“That was long ago!”
“That might sound cool, but I won’t be fooled.”
“No dinner for you when you’re already eating now.”
“I don’t consider putting on a few stone as growing.”
“Don’t throw just your hated food at me! Or rather, don’t waste food!”
“Even if I’ve to push you onto the ground, I’ll shove it into your mouth.”
“Too misleading!”
“Oww! Wat‘cha doing! In the first place, you speak about dinner, but you weren’t even shopping!”
I only noticed it when she pointed it out. It seemed to have forgotten to buy ingredients for dinner, since I had been spaced out.
“What, you forgot? How rare. Even though you remember the smallest things well enough to be called a nitpicker despite looking like a hoodlum.”
“…Did something happen?”
“No, it’s not worth mentioning.”
“…Hey, how does my slump equals trouble with Kirisaki?”
No, it does…
“Come on, tell your dear sister.”
I talked to her with leaving things out like with Rin.
“Nah, of course she got angry.”
“Being abandoned by your own boyfriend is quite harsh.”
“Even then, you’re still at fault.”
“…But that doesn’t seem to be the reason.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t talked that much to her either, but I think that Kirisaki-san also understands why you did that. She’s that kind of girl. The real problem was probably the latter.”
“Treating Kuon-san kindly and so on.”
“Now, now. Your own intentions aside, let me spell it out for you.”
I inadvertently leaned forward. My sister came face to face with me and said a single word.
“…Jealousy?”
“Well, it might not go as far as jealously. Saying she’s sulking would be more appropriate.”
“You sure are dense.”
“Listen. If her boyfriend is being nice to someone else besides her, of course she’s going to mind it. And you even went a step further. She told you that she was in the same situation as Kuon-san, but you replied with ‘Oh, is that so’. Seriously, are you mocking her?”
To begin with, she wasn’t the type to suffer from something like a heatstroke.
My sister strongly hit on the table.
She said it twice.
“Huh? What? That too?”
“Ridiculous.”
“Chop!”
“…Sis, that was obviously a punch just now.”
“Maiden in love?”
“So annooooying.”
“I- I’m sorry.”
“Man, so it’s like that…”
“So, what am I supposed to do? Do I just have to apologize?”
“Let’s see, I don’t think she’s still angry… On the contrary, she might feel sorry for being strangely obstinate. But you’re lacking a chance to make up. That means you need some kind of impulse.”
“An impulse that allows you both to relax and naturally admit your wrongdoings to each other.”
“Why don’t you think for yourself a bit?”
“You’re such a hopeless little brother…”
After a while, she clapped her hands with “Oh, I know”.
“It’s simple.”
She firmly pointed her finger at me and—
declared something outrageous.
The annoyingly blue sky sopped up the cheers that resounded at times.
At the very edge in the sixth track of the 25m pool.
Usually it was common for swimming lessons to turn gender-segregated in high school.
That said, it ended a little while ago and now we had free time.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t a happy recreation for me, who didn’t have any friends, let alone acquaintances and was rather spending a “dark winter of life” instead of the “springtime of life” according to my sister.
Diagonally across there was Kirisaki.
She was sitting by the pool side with her chin resting on her raised leg, showing a listless expression. It was different than usual. She replied to classmates, who occasionally called out to her, with a smile, but once they were gone, she returned to being listless.
“…What?”
—It might not go as far as jealously. Saying she’s sulking would be more appropriate.
Good Heavens!
However, to repeat myself, that was only feigned.
But that happened partly out of pity. …No, that wasn’t quite right. I simply couldn’t act like nothing had happened after I got to know about it. It was such a selfish reasoning.
“Geez…”
Kirisaki had her own emotions, her own thoughts and feelings. She lived in accordance with them.
I cracked my neck and got away from the wall I had been leaning onto and moved through the water with its resistance.
I lowered my goggles that I had put up and dived silently. When I opened my eyes, I saw a lot of legs that looked like roots of trees in the wavy blue space.
At the same time my hand touched the wall, I crouched down on the spot.
“WRAAR!”
“Hiii!?”
“Oh, it worked.”
“Th- The heck’re you doing!”
“You’re like a tumbler. By the way, you’re speaking in the raw, you don’t mind?”
“Be at ease. No one else is around at the moment.”
“Anyway, you must’ve been one heck of surprised to go ‘Hii’.”
“How rude. Actually, have you ever seen big foot?”
“At least realize that the magazine itself is dubious.”
Without any words to keep the conversation going, I looked at her.
Considering the place we were at, Kirisaki obviously wore a swimsuit. The school one was blunt, but showed the body lines clearly. Like that, I became conscious of it— if I wanted or not. For example, well… if you follow the line downwards the nape of her neck, there come two hills. No, rather them calling them hills, it might be better to call them mountains at this size. They got a peak too after all. What am I trying to joke around here for?
“Kugito.”
“…What’s wrong?”
“Really? That sounded like a really surprised scream, though.”
You hear that, myself.
“Well, if you say so… Anyway, do you want something from me?”
After I said so whitewashing, I scratched the top of my nose.
“…That’s not true.”
I looked up to the scorching sun above my head. …..Mhm.
“What?”
Kirisaki widened her eyes and instantly flushed her face.
Right after she said that, everyone turned to us, so she quickly covered her mouth. Next she smoothed it over with her usual sham by smiling and whispered towards me.
“So, you’re not sulking?”
“That’s what I want to know. Why’re you sulking?”
“Then why’re you in a bad mood?”
“In denial, huh… You know, I don’t really care either way, but when your attitude changes so obviously, it’s bugging.”
Kirisaki pursed her lips upon my words and faced forwards.
“There you go sulking again.”
“Seriously…”
“To begin with, you would usually show off your swimsuit and ask stuff like ‘How is it? Does it turn you on?’.”
“Yep.”
“…I just wondered what you would do if I said that.”
“Too bad for you.”
“…If you aren’t sulking, are you angry?”
“Then what?”
“Put your cards on the table already. If I’ve done anything wrong, I’ll apologize or whatever. Though only if I indeed was wrong.”
“Then, are you? Are you depressed from reflecting over it?”
“But?”
…What the.
Kirisaki gave an unusual inarticulate answer as her feelings were too complex.
Saying so, I placed my hand on top of her head.
“? What do you mean?”
Kirisaki blinked.
“Well, if you don’t want to, forget it. But I don’t want this vague unpleasant situation to go on. I would rather invest some time and clear it up.”
“That’s…”
“Well, my grandma was standing by my bed last night and said she couldn’t go to heaven unless I go watch a movie…”
“Actually, the fortune-telling on TV this morning said I would be cursed if I don’t go see a movie.”
“…..”
I was out of ideas.
I said, kind of snapping even though I brought it up.
For me, a resting day was literally a day to rest.
However, right now I was waiting at the fountain plaza in front of the Meitou Station.
I stood there for a while, whereupon a familiar figure appeared from far away. It was Kirisaki. When she noticed me, she came rushing over.
“…Mm.”
“…..”
An awkward silence.
This morning my sister spotted me sharp sighted when I was getting ready to leave, and said to me.
Ignoring my denial, she nodded to herself with “So you’re finally listen to my advice honestly now!”, then
I got detailed instructions about “how to fix the girlfriend’s mood with a date”, even though I hadn’t asked for it. …She didn’t even have a boyfriend herself.
“Compliment her clothes as soon as you meet. Anything will do. Like it’s cute or anything similar. Doing that will already influence the later development.”
“…Hey, Kirisaki.”
“Your clothes… ehm, are cute?”
Right.
“That’s your idea of appreciating clothes?”
“The next important thing is to keep a conversation going. Any topic is fine, just talk about it happily, because once the conversation dies and the silence drags on, it tends to get awkward.”
“At any rate.”
“…At any rate.”
“Ehm… At any rate!”
“…At any rate, I mean.”
Did that count as a conversation?
“No, just the news on the internet. What did you watch?”
What am I raising the subject for then?
There was no way we could relax like that.
“…What’s up, Kugito? You’re being strange.”
I averted my eyes from Kirisaki’s puzzled face and started walking quickly.
…In the long run, the choice of “watching a movie” wasn’t wrong.
The narration said “The Bear on screen. For his precious friends, for his dear lover and to protect all these that shoulder grief— The most popular stuffed animal in Japan ‘Bearzawa’ from the Talking Bear series, staged by Breaker’s director Beeven Grayer in full CG animation. The ultimate survival action romance movie with a stuffed animal. Soon in your cinema! Have you seen true love—?”
No, that didn’t matter now. I said to Kirisaki next me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Her face was lightly flushed and her eyes a bit blank.
At first, Kirisaki and I were supposed to watch the new instalment of a run-of-the-mill action series. They were showing a romance or adolescent one too, and Kirisaki seemed to be fine with these as well, but I wasn’t particular interested, so I decided against it. However, that principally turned out to be my biggest mistake.
“I beg your pardon, the 2:15 o’clock showing for ‘Battle Crusher Ryuuga 5′ you requested is already sold out.”
I thought about giving up the movie, but we came all the way here. When I asked if there were tickets left for some other movie, the vendor answered like this.
“Then that’ll have to do. What’s the name?”
“‘Ripper Jack vs. Jason Voorhees’, Sir.”
I was convinced that watching it nevertheless was my mistake.
However, Kirisaki was different.
“Well… Sorry. We shouldn’t have watched it after all.”
Saying so haltingly, Kirisaki made a coquettish sigh.
So she said, but seeing as she wasn’t even able to walk properly, I inevitable took her by the hand.
“Don’t fret it. Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Thanks…”
“…You sure have a troublesome habitude.”
“…But why didn’t you say anything? You didn’t know it would turn out like this?”
“But?”
While trying to cool down her face even a bit by holding the can against her cheek, she mumbled.
“Admired?”
She averted her eyes and whispered with a small voice.
I inadvertently spouted out the juice.
“No… not really.”
“What can I do, I never did anything together with anyone before.”
Feeling guilty over how inconsiderate I was, I lowered my head a bit. To punish herself for her forbidding fate, Kirisaki had lived in solitude up till now. Therefore she had not a single experience of a normal teenager girl. Due to that, an innocent maiden side came to the surface from time to time, contrary to her usual behaviour. That surely was her true self.
For the time being, I should let her go home merciful—
“…Mh? What’s up?”
“Kugito, forgive me. I’m… at my limit.”
“No, hold it. The sun’s still up… wait, I’m only making it worse. Anyway, don’t, okay?”
“Stop with the misleading remarks!”
“Well, I need to calm down a bit… It would be troublesome if my underwear gets wet again after changing.”
“F- For now, calm down. Okay?”
“That’ll make me lose my calm though…”
Like that, I was dragged towards a back alley between two buildings. This girl wasn’t listening at all.
My scream was in vain too.
Furthermore, Kirisaki flipped her skirt and drew her knife at the same time. Then she got on top of me, who was lying down face-up. Deja vu! I’m getting a deja vu!
“…Forgive me, Kugito.”
My body was stabbed without hesitation, first in the stomach.
This nightmare again after a long time!
In the next moment, a stabbing show like raging billows started.
I must have been stabbed a dozen times.
After stabbing my arms, stomach and chest right and left as she pleased, I thought it was finally over, but Kirisaki unbelievably spouted “Now that got me started”, so my brain stopped paying attention to the reality before my eyes at this point.
Anyway— When I came back to my senses, everything was over. Just like that.
“Feel better now?”
“…Kugito…”
“…I held back as much as possible.”
“For now, get off.”
I put on my shirt, then my jacket. In the meantime, Kirisaki looked at me with a side-glance and had an exhausted expression. That reminded me, I was on bad terms with Kirisaki lately, where we didn’t even get to talk. She might have released everything that had piled up so far.
While I asked that, I was shocked about myself for this completely inappropriate question. I should be more concerned about the well-being of my own body.
“…Sorry.”
I should’ve somewhat predicted this development. It was all due to my carelessness.
“Sorry…”
“Not just about now.”
“I’m sorry for acting so weird the last few days.”
I was confused at the unexpected development.
I remembered my sister’s words.
Although I got the feeling that the price I paid for it was too high— For the time being, all’s well.
When I said that, Kirisaki looked at me. But she immediately averted her gaze again.
“Don’t be so fussy. Let’s just say I was at fault too.”
Kirisaki shook her head powerless. When I frowned doubtful, she continued after a while.
I know that, she mumbled.
Kirisaki spoke indifferent.
…Yet— Despite that, I suddenly found myself acting like a normal student sometimes when I talked with you, which worried me. Of course I denied it right away and scolded myself, tucking away these feelings in the back of my heart.”
Her voice gradually became emotional.
She looked up to me.
What arrogance. A feeling so unsavoury that it would be presumptuous to call it selfishness.”
“That’s why I ended up doing that. I figured that I had to make you worry, so that you would turn to me even just a bit—”
“…What’s up?”
She closed her eyes. At that time, a small drop of water fell down from her eyelid, ran down her cheek and dropped onto the ground.
She said with a feeble voice while shaking.
She whispered with a stiff voice.
“You…”
No one ever confronted me with their feelings so directly like this.
If Kirisaki were a normal girl— what would I do? Accept her? Push her away? Or brush it off evasively? …Either way, it would surely have turned into a run-off-the-mill development from a romance movie afterwards.
It wasn’t a problem about simple feelings like love or hate.
Then, how— am I going to respond to her?
This is the path you chose.
“…..”
And then, I approached Kirisaki and sat cross-legged besides her.
While scratching my head, I somehow put my unsorted feeling into words.
“…What, do you mean?”
I kept going on, albeit knowing how clumsy it sounded.
Kirisaki listened in silence. I continued.
For example, my current self. Spending every day aimlessly in a state, where I didn’t know if I was alive or dead.
When someone, who lived an abnormal life, tried to live a normal life, obstacles were bound to occur. Reasoning stopped everyone at a certain line. And those, who ended up crossing that line, couldn’t return so easily, even if they wanted to out of regret. There was always a wall that prevented it, which is how it should be.
“But… that might take a long time.”
“The answer I find might not necessarily be right.”
I placed my hand on Kirisaki’s lowered head.
“…What if it turns out twisted?”
I declared.
Slowly standing up, I looked down at her.
Kirisaki looked up at me. She muttered with narrowed eyes.
I kept my mouth shut for a moment upon her question. I scratched my cheek and averted my eyes.
Nevertheless, I made a wry smile and said at least this.
“For sure.”
“…Thanks, Kugito.”
“F- For now, act like before. Being meek is all fine, but it’s hard to deal with.”
“Well, as long as you understand.”
“But I have to say, I really went a bit too far this time.”
“No, that won’t work. It’s not just about today. I felt I had to thank you for everything up till now.”
“Mm…”
“How about I treat you to lunch there?”
“I’m getting kinda sad…”
Kirisaki made a bittersweet smile, then pondered for a while with her head tilted.
“We will go to a hotel now and you can have your way with me.”
“But I thrust my knife in you, so you can thrust in me too and we will be ‘thrust buddies’…”
After I said that, I dealt a blow with my fist onto her head.
“Enough nonsense. We’re going home. …But before that, clothes.”
“…? What?”
Saying so, I turned on my heel and started walking. I heard Kirisaki following behind me.
That said, I got the feeling that the problems increased rather than being solved— But oh well. I won’t sweat the details.
“…Now onto the next news.”
The huge projector there wasn’t showing previews anymore, but the evening news now.
Again?, I thought, because the case sounded familiar. It happened when society started to calm down after the news about the arrest of the 《Midnight killing Devil》.
For some reason or another, I watched the news, whereupon the two girls of my age in uniforms, who had walked by near, stopped and started talking to each other.
“Again what?”
“Yeah…?”
“What, what?”
“Mh-mm.”
“Huh, a weirdo?”
“Eh. Why?”
“Kinda scary.”
“I hope so…”
Desu Iitaa Kuraun…? What the. Desu meant Death and Iitaa was Eater alright, but Kuraun… A crown, so a prince? Or not?
Kirisaki muttered. I looked at her.
“An urban legend in the same league as the slit mouthed woman, the dog with a human face or the Tsukuba Robot. When the same crime happened before like the news just reported, it became a rumour on the internet.”
“If I member correctly, it’s a person so big that you have to look up to, carries a blunt weapon and wears a clown-like mask like the name implies. And when you loiter around at night, it asks you when no one is around.
Apparently you get killed with the blunt weapon then if you can’t answer. And for some reason, the target is always a high school girl.”
“Why’s there such a rumour?”
“…Certainly.”
Their interest had simply shifted from the 《Midnight killing Devil》 to the 《Death Eater Clown》 and the fuss they made over it hadn’t changed at all from before. In other words, a keyword. When it was “grotesque”, “unheard-of”, “gloomy” or “cruel”, it’s welcomed as a trickster in the boring daily life. Much to my regret, even I would be like that if I hadn’t been involved with Kirisaki and Rin. That’s just how it is, was my only excuse.
“You wouldn’t call it an urban legend when it actually exists. Or do you think there actually is a human, who can run 100m in five seconds or jump higher than a five floor building or easily smash concrete with it’s hands?”
“It’s just a silly rumour created by someone for fun. To begin with, all victims died and there are no witnesses, so how could anyone get their hands on detailed information about the 《Death Eater Clown》?”
However… I thought at this point.
But needless to say, reality was different. On a daily basis, someone was hurt, hurt someone or lost something/someone in the world.
Even while Kirisaki and I were troubled over various things, new tragedies happened one after another and bystanders were attracted to it just to satisfy their curiosity. Lies, facts, endless rumours— It was all a repetition of the same thing.
Then I suddenly remembered Haru. A lot had happened, so I forgot, but— nothing had settled for Kirisaki in it’s true meaning, even when there was a new incident and the world forgot about the 《Midnight killing Devil》.
“Mh?”
“What woman?”
“You mean me?”
Suddenly a voice came from behind me without any presence and I sprang up in surprise. When I turned around, she stood there inexpressive as ever.
“To think I would get lectured about that by you…”
“Kirisaki Kyouko.”
“Good then.”
“—You have orders.”