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The Lying Cicada and the Blue Sky 

“Miin-min-min. Miin-min-min. I’m a cicada!” 

Under the dark black sky, I could hear nothing but the buzzing of an unknown creature. 

What was this? What was going on? My head spun, unable to get my thoughts in order. 

I was feeling even sicker than usual today, and yet the voice mercilessly rung in my eardrums. 

“My mistake! I’m a human! Just a human, so it’s okay! Please open up! Heey, open up! Please! OPEN! Don’t worry, I’m not shady! HEEEY!” 

My vision spun with fear and anxiety. My head was short-circuited by the sudden event. 

“Open up! I’m not shady! I’m really just a human!” 

“I know you’re in there! I am not seedy, suspect, or dubious! And I’m not a cicada or anything! No problems here, just please open the door! Open it! …Murderer! Rapist! Guy with a lolita complex!” 

Just then, I heard knocking on the wall from the neighboring room. Surprised, my body faltered and fell, and my hand landed on the doorknob. 

“Wahh!” 

Surprised by the sudden lack of a door to knock, she staggered a bit and let out a strange yelp. 

“Don’t worry, not a cicada! I’m a human, it’s fine!” 

I experienced for the first time an event that was, at the time, so far beyond my comprehension that I couldn’t do anything. I froze on the spot and stared vacantly. 

“Semi? So you are a cicada?” 

My senses cut out with her adorable panicking voice in the background. 

“Are you okay?! Firetruck! Somebody call a firetruck!” 

“Whoa! Whew! I was really scared when you just collapsed!” 

She reminded me more of “the ghost of a flowering plant” than a cicada. Making hovering sound effects and all. 

“Um… You’re…” 

“Good evening! I’m the human Semiko! I’ve come today to repay the favor!” 

I had lots of questions, but that was what I wanted to know first of all. 

“D-Did I say thaaat?” 

“Waaaugh! Now I’ve done it…”, Semiko mumbled, crouching and holding her head. 

“Right, well. I don’t get it, but could you take off your shoes?” 

Evidently, a long time ago, I had saved her. 

Semiko rapidly talked on and on with excitement. The fact she was still saying all this in whispers seemed to have fallen out of her brain. 

"It’d be really bad to say any more. If I did, it’s entirely possible that the people of the Cicada Kingdom would use a curse kind of thing to give Marukuru anorexia…” 

According to what Semiko told me, this “Marukuru” was her pet. He liked fish, and he hated water bottles. 

Yes, he was obviously a cat. A cicada keeping a cat… 

“Right. Because he’s a cat.” 

“But that doesn’t matter!”, she yelled, and got back on track. 

Semiko went on to explain how she had to somehow return the favor for me saving her, or else Marukuru would be stricken with a curse that made his fur come off in clumps, tripping over herself all the while. 

No, there was still no way I could understand. 

“Err… Hold on a second. Let me sort things out.” 

I frantically thought. Maybe it was how sick I felt, but my brain just wouldn’t work. I was unable to figure out this ridiculous situation. 

While I pondered, Semiko got bored and went around staring the plants in my room with scrutiny. 

“That, um, Cicada Kingdom, was it? Where would that be?”, I asked, my thoughts in disarray. 

Ahh, perhaps she was a full-blown moron. Now I could be fairly sure. 

“Yep! If it weren’t thataway, whataway would it be?” 

“Understood! See ya!” 

I was nearly convinced now that I’d never be able to get my thoughts in order in such an unreal environment. So I stumbled unreliably over to the bathroom. 

Was she, Semiko, really a cicada girl who came from the Cicada Kingdom? 

And this was the kind of nutso girl who it was best not to get too involved with. No doubt this would end in calling the police. 

For some reason, Semiko was practicing somersaults. Flip…. Flip… Splat. She flubbed one. 

“What are you even doing?” 

“I-I was bored and wanted to kill time, so I was doing somersaults,” Semiko admitted in embarrassment. 

Shortly after saying that, her eyes flew wide open, and she continued. 

“I-Is that so.” 

“I… see. Impressive.” 

“I guess if I were born in the Cicada Kingdom, I’d be a prodigy.” 

I could make all kinds of comebacks to that. But since she seemed to have no ill intention, I had the gut feeling that people from the Cicada Kingdom would do no harm to humans. 

It was four at night. Nearly five hours since I’d opened the door. 

“Right…” 

I could swear I saw blue and white stripes under her one-piece… but I pretended not to see. 

What happened today was only a dream, I thought, and prayed, as I gave up consciousness. 

I woke up to simmering heat. I felt like I’d had the strangest dream, though I couldn’t remember what it was exactly. 

As I tried to recall my dream, I noticed the murderous heat of the room. Before I went crazy from heat stroke, I hurried to turn on the air conditioning. Cool air quickly began to flow and lower the temperature. 

“What kind of dream was it…” 

Soon, I was able to remember last night’s strange dream, almost as if it had been real. 

Ah yes, Semiko. 

Just what did that dream mean? 

I couldn’t help pretending that it was just a dream. I got out of the shower early and returned to my room. 

Suddenly, I looked to the clock and saw the hour hand on five. 

My cold was really wreaking havoc on my usual routine. 

I would only be able to study at the library for about two or three hours if I left now. I might as well stay at home to study. 

I took my classical literature reference book out of my backpack and flipped through looking for where I’d stopped two days ago. 

Every time I confronted these classical literature questions, I felt an immense hate for the person who came up with college entrance exams. 

I didn’t hate studying so much when I could get a sense that I was actually getting smarter, albeit very slowly. It felt particularly nice to understand questions I didn’t before. 

Taking a break after six hours, I skipped around my room. 

Suddenly, I noticed pink stationery that was clearly not mine. 

I fearfully picked up the stationery. On it was written, in cute handwriting: 

Though my cold had long since healed up, I faltered. Just as I finished reading, I heard a voice at the door. Yes, hers. 

“Good evening! It’s Semiko! The human Semiko! Please open up!” 

So yesterday had not been a dream. The high-pitched girl yelling outside was proof of that. 

“Wow, you’re fast today! Did you do weight training?” 

No, but would they be mistaken? It was undeniably true that this hopeless, aloof nutso-ette existed. My stomach churned. 

“Sorry I had to leave so suddenly yesterday!” 

“I will absolutely, positively repay the favor today!” 

“Leave it to me! My repayment’ll be like a crane’s times seven!” 

To drive out Semiko, eyes glittering with motivation, would be asking the impossible. 

“By…” 

“Er, I don’t… know?” 

“It’s for you to decide what you want me to do.” 

“Yes. You.” 

Indeed, it made more sense for a repayment to be on the terms of the one being paid back. That was logical. 

Meanwhile, Semiko, with all too much time on her hands, started swinging the curtains left and right. I was already getting used to that stuff. 

“I know,” I said, having come up with a plan. 

If Semiko could grant any wish I had like magic, I would be able to escape all that studying. 

My studies were no doubt at the forefront for me right now. I couldn’t mess them up. It was a perfect idea, if I do say so myself. 

Semiko lifted herself up and briskly walked toward me. Once in front of me, she stopped and squatted down to peer into my face with her big eyes. 

Semiko put her palms against mine, and whispered… 

“I sure hope you pass. Amen!” 

Semiko returned to where she was before, smiled like a dog that had caught its master’s frisbee, and asked in a lively voice “Okay, what’s your next wish?” 

When I wished “I want money,” Semiko smiled and said “I only have three yen on me, so take this!”, handing me tissue paper. 

I gave up and said “Please, bring about world peace” like someone who’d attained enlightenment. 

This is just a guess, but I think Semiko was requesting the United States of America to usher in world peace. 

“I’m good at finding well-shaped stones!”, Semiko said with seemingly all seriousness. 

“Maybe it could help when you’re looking for well-shaped stones!” 

All I’d learned in that time was that this girl had no particular abilities whatsoever to repay me. Nearly all desire to actually receive her help had long vanished. 

As I looked at her, I found myself thinking back on my college life that started up this spring. That dull gray college life. 

As soon as I got into the college I was presently attending, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to study what I wanted to study here. I felt that this wasn’t where I should be. 

So I didn’t try to make friends. It would be a waste to if we’d just part in a year. So I didn’t go to freshmen events, class events, anything. 

Sometimes I’d go to college, but I didn’t say a word. I hated the cafeteria, so I had no choice but to eat lunch in the bathroom. 

Everyone’s laughter pierced me in the gut. 

It got so painful to ride the train to college with the rising of the sun. 

That was a lie. A big fat lie. I could bear being alone, but isolation from the group was too much. 

Of course I wasn’t unique, I recognized again and again. Even knowing that in my head, I isolated myself daily to protect my pride. 

I wondered, had it not been that way, if this enthusiastic nutso-ette would have come knocking on my door. 

“I want a friend.” 

I found myself muttering. It took me a moment to realize I’d said it out loud. 

Perhaps it was just a hope that crawled from the depths of my heart as I reflected on college. 

Semiko confidently spoke, hearing my words. She pointlessly stood up, looked at me with her big eyes, and - 

Semiko interrupted my thoughts with eyes sparkling. How impudent. 

I was very gloomy, but I felt like my day-to-day gloom was cleared up just a little bit. 

Before we knew it, four at night came around. 

“Yeah, it’s already morning, I gotta go!” Semiko hurriedly got ready to leave. 

“Er, well, in the Cicada Kingdom, you see, it’s very recommended to go out late at night!” 

“It’s fine! If it comes to it, that’s why I brought my stungun!” 

Semiko dug through the bag she was always carrying. 

“Geez, you really love your well-shaped rocks…” 

“Ahh… Not here. It should be in there…” 

“Huh? That’s weird…”, she muttered. Suddenly, she found a macaron inside the bag, and her face brightened at once. 

Then she opened up the bag of macarons in her hand and started munching on them. 

Happily stuffing her face with macarons, Semiko already seemed to no longer have any memory of the stungun. Such a simple girl. 

“Well, it could be dangerous going home, then. I’ll take you.” 

“Err, umm…” 

“Nope, that won’t do. If you, uh, learn where the Cicada Kingdom is, then, uhh… Right! I won’t be able to come here anymore!” 

“I see. Then be careful on your way back.” 

Semiko stood up and spun over to the entryway. She didn’t trip on the step this time. 

Outside, with a full and radiant smile, Semiko rhythmically stepped down the apartment stairs. 

I sighed, but smiled a little. 

The next day, my routine still had not recovered from the havoc my cold wreaked. I woke up at 4 AM and studied for about six hours from there. 

Just like yesterday, she did surreal things to repay me, looked at my plants while I studied, polished well-shaped rocks, read stories, and generally killed time. 

And like yesterday, when four at night came around, Semiko left. 

After that, I got in the bath, then did a little more studying. 

I had become rather nocturnal. It was something I seemed unlikely to come back from. 

That day, she had done little in the way of repayment, just talking to me to wasting time on her own. 

The fourth night since I met Semiko, I asked her something as she rolled around reading a particularly damaged book. 

Semiko only visited after the sun set. And always left right at four at night. 

“I hate blue skies.” 

“That’s right. I like the night. I like the dark.” 

“Moles are so cute! I love moles! But blue skies, hate.” 

Semiko looked just a little upset to hear it. But in a moment, her expression was back to normal like nothing happened, and I couldn’t help but smile. 

While I was thinking about that, Semiko threw a question back at me. 

She hit on a painful spot. 

There was indeed a reason why I wanted to take college entrance exams again. 

To others, it would certainly look like a pointless endeavor, and I didn’t have any idea if I could really do it. 

I was vague, and hid the core of the issue. 

“Hmm. Something like ___ University’s literature department, maybe. It might be a little hard for me, though…” 

“L-Literature?!” 

“So you can get a job writing stories!” 

“Huh…” 

Hating to see her like that, I switched the subject and asked “Do you write, Semiko?” 

Once again, her expression flipped and her eyes shone. 

Semiko spoke innocently and unhesitatingly, like a child being complimented by her mother. 

“Well, it’s a very strange sentimental love story that takes place in the Cicada Kingdom!” 

“I’m also thinking of writing a story about these weirdo aliens, and a story about a girl who stuffs herself full of macarons, and some others too. I haven’t yet, but I definitely will someday!” 

That night, I listened intently to the tales Semiko spun as she glittered like the night sky. 

“Huh? Long time no see.” 

I had finally completed my book of questions, so I decided it was time to buy something a little more difficult. 

Always orderly, he was vice president of the student council, well regarded by teachers, and quickly proceeded to college on a recommendation. 

Unlike me, with my worn jersey and unkempt hair, he felt like a real one. 

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” 

When Yuuki asked, I unconsciously hid the question book I was holding behind my back. 

“Me? Just wasting time before a get-together later. Man, the test corner here sure brings me back.” 

“Aw, man, I forget most of this.” 

“You’re right about that.” 

My heart beat with surprise. 

“Oh, you passed? Congrats!” 

My heart beat like an alarm. I was attacked by an unknown feeling of awfulness. 

“Yeah.” 

Yuuki laughed. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. 

“Man, though, you gotta cut your hair. Just 'cause it’s summer -” 

A lie. It would be a waste of money I could spend on books. Why would I cut my hair in the first place if I didn’t have any fr - 

“It’s been so long, and we’re already out here, so why not? Oh yeah, and you canceled your cellphone after high school. We gotta trade numbers!” 

That was when I realized I hadn’t exchanged numbers ever since I got a new phone. So I didn’t even know how. 

“O-Oh, my bad. I left my phone at home.” 

Once more, I lied. I silently apologized to Yuuki as I grasped the phone in my pocket. It got wet with the sweat running down my palm. 

“Alright. Have fun.” 

“Okay. See you.” 

As Yuuki left the bookstore for a bar far in the distance, I felt a loneliness I couldn’t voice. 

I read the texts in the book, but none of it stayed in my head. That had never happened before. 

But even if I knew, I couldn’t do anything. I ground my teeth, worthless thoughts swirling through my head. 

“What’s wrong? Feeling bad?”, Semiko asked, concerned. She was sitting nearby reading a story. 

“I’m fine.” 

Semiko saw through my lie. She was sharp only at times like these. It was like Semiko’s big black eyes saw right through my entire body. 

“Say, Semiko. Do you have any regrets?” 

“I was prepared to take the exam again. I know that’s the path I want to take. And yet really, somewhere in my heart, I regret it.” 

“I still think about what it’d be like to live a normal life at college. And how if I could just make friends normally, I wouldn’t have to suffer like this. And what if I never felt like retaking the exam at all.” 

By the time I noticed, there was no going back. Still, I continued to tell myself at all times that this was the way I was going. 

Semiko listened in silence. 

“Semiko, do you have any regrets?” 

I found myself asking again. I don’t know why I was actually expecting some kind of answer from her. But as if clinging to it, I asked her. 

Ahh… So I see. 

“You’ll manage just fine! My repayment may not be going well either, but I’m still full of energy. So I’m sure you’ll be fine too!” 

In response, Semiko pouted with puffed cheeks. 

“Ahh! Oh no, I’ve gotta go!” 

It was the usual, but it felt especially lonely today. 

After I saw frantic Semiko off, I took a look out the window. The sky was inky black. 

I heard Semiko hopping down the steps, and saw her outside. 

After all, watching Semiko run, her left arm looked for a moment like a real cicada’s. 

“What are you doing?”, I asked for some reason. 

“I see.” Letting Semiko’s reply wash over me, I returned to studying. 

They were fun. 

For the first time, I felt like her repayment was actually proving effective. 

I had a sudden idea. 

“Festival…?” 

“Yeah, you know. A festival. Where you have all these food stands, and the portable shrines and stuff. That kind of festival. You’re always trying to repay me, so I’d like to take you as thanks. I could treat you to shaved ice or something,” I said, speaking a little rapidly. 

Whenever I asked her about it, she’d look away and change the subject, so I really never knew the reason. 

Semiko delighted, her face shining like the sun. “Then that sounds great!” 

“What is it?” 

“They don’t have them in the Cicada Kingdom?” 

It definitely felt like an afterthought. 

But I’d learned in the past few days it would do no good to probe further. “Alright, then tomorrow will be your first festival. Enjoy it!” 

“That excited, huh?” 

We laughed and had our usual sort of exchange, but I felt like Semiko was trying to force a smile a little more than usual. 

I tried to ignore my own unusual excitement, and waited for Semiko at the entrance to the park. 

Five minutes before the meeting time, I saw a girl in a white one-piece running in the distance. 

Semiko tripped nearby and skidded on the ground. She was the same as ever. 

“Geez… concrete is hard. If I could talk to concrete, I’d tell it to soften up and not hurt my knee!” 

Grabbing my hand, Semiko staggered up. Like always, her one-piece was not dirtied by the fall. 

“Thanks! Have a sign of my gratitude!” 

“It’s fine. But what is this?” 

“Thanks. You should really watch your step.” 

I put the green stone in my wallet and looked over the place where Semiko had tripped. 

“That’s right. Innumerable amounts.” 

Semiko was so filled with excitement, she looked ready to fly off at any moment. 

“To show my thanks, I’ll treat you to anything you want today.” 

“But only up to a thousand yen!” 

It seemed it really was Semiko’s first time going to a festival, and she sighed with wonder at all the stands. 

“Right.” 

“Yep. Wanna try?” 

Semiko was filled with excitement to go goldfish scooping for the first time. 

“Huh? That’s weird…”, she muttered in confusion. Even on future attempts, she was unable to scoop out a single goldfish. 

“This is some new kind of fraud! It’s phishing, with a P and an H!” 

Seeing Semiko in tearful lamentation, the old man running the stand spoke to her kindly. 

The old man launched into his common practice of helping those who couldn’t catch any. With an experienced hand, he scooped out a fish, put it in a vinyl bag, and handed it to Semiko. 

I wondered then if Semiko might be an easy target for actual phishing. 

“It’s like I’m eating a cloud!” 

Semiko seemed to be getting a little tired, too. Walking through crowds for an hour really hurts your legs, and I hadn’t walked like that in a long time. 

“Was the festival fun?”, I asked Semiko, her cheeks full of delicious cotton candy.

“That’s great.” 

She pointed to the three-hundred-yen-each lottery inside and sighed. 

She was quite upset to find that none of the four were winners. She looked menacingly at the lottery booth and sighed. 

I had considered advising her to maybe not go in there, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to estrange her. 

There was nothing bad about silence with Semiko. I didn’t know anyone else like that. 

All of a sudden, I was reminded of what Semiko said about hating blue skies. 

“What is it?” 

Semiko looked down, her words stuck. 

She looked forward with determination and let out what she’d kept in. 

“Well… I have to say goodbye to you today.” 

Semiko continued. 

“Um, in the Cicada Kingdom, you only get seven days to repay a favor. So, um, er… I can’t go to your house anymore.” 

Semiko said, downcast. 

What was my expression like then? 

Who knows. I don’t know. 

I noticed her long eyelashes, under her big doll-like eyes, were gleaming like they were wet. Her soft cheeks were faintly pink like cherry blossoms, in contrast to her jet black hair. 

“That’s why I’m retaking the exam. You think it’s funny, right? He’s not talented, he doesn’t know anything, yet this guy who’s always been scientific changes schools because he wants to be a writer. When I don’t even know what I’d write a story about, I just want to. And I know. I know I’m just an ordinary guy.” 

“But it’s been a little different lately. I’ve seen a few things I want to write. It’s still fuzzy, but I see them. And it’s thanks to you, Semiko.” 

“Leave the Cicada Kingdom somehow, and we’ll meet again. I’ll be writing until this time next year. Then we’ll meet.” 

“Of course. I’ll always be writing them.” 

I let my tightly-gripping arms go of Semiko’s body. There were slight traces of tears on her face. 

“I’m not planning to lose! I’ve got a masterpiece with a decade of planning in it!” 

“Then it’s a promise. Come back next year to repay the favor. And we’ll show each other our stories.” 

At least, that’s what I felt. 

I studied wholeheartedly after that. Summer was over before I knew it, and school reopened. 

In the university library, turning a blind eye to the other students busy with classes, I studied for the entrance exam. 

I would absolutely make it into the school of my dreams. If I didn’t, Semiko would laugh at me. Thinking that allowed me to do my best. 

I noticed the colorful leaves began turning gold. When they started to lose all color and fall from the branches, it was winter already. 

After decent results on the Center exams, the stage was set for the final showdown with the entrance exam. 

This year, I would end it. I would leave no regrets. 

Even the main event went smoothly. With all the knowledge I’d amassed, my pen sped through the pages and I had plenty of time to spare. 

“The test is over. Put down your writing implements.” 

The proctor’s voice echoed through the room. As the chime rang to end it, I looked over my test as I recovered. 

There was not a shred of regret in me. I’d put it all in the answer sheet. 

And my final entrance exam was over. 

I made it into my first choice of school. I hadn’t managed that the first time, so I couldn’t even believe it. 

“Are you sure you didn’t call the wrong place?” was what I said first. 

Joy bubbled up within me. 

Delight began to control my heart. What a wonderful feeling. 

After hearing the news, I headed for my parents’ house to tell them. I urged the train to go faster. Hurry. Go faster. Faster, faster. 

I stopped for a moment to take off my thick coat and looked up at the sky. 

As if to celebrate my success, it was a perfect and cloudless sky. 

I kicked at the asphalt like I was running a hundred meter dash. My feet were light. They could take me anywhere. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” 

“You did good.” 

They processed it quicker than expected, so without missing a beat, I headed to enter the university that accepted me. 

I made many friends there. I didn’t deny getting involved with anyone else like the year before. 

And so I had a fulfilling time there. 

I began to get a small start on my stories. I still haven’t forgotten what I promised that summer. 

After all, my competition was “a strange sentimental love story in the Cicada Kingdom.” She was no doubt still writing her masterpiece now. 

For some reason, the season when young leaves turned green, and it was too hot for long sleeves, seemed to lift my mood. 

And I really did know what my face was like on the day of that summer festival. 

I’d come to love her. 

I missed her. She was never altogether there, yet I couldn’t hate that oddball cicada. 

Starting off that summer, I received a letter. A strange letter with no address. 

My hand trembled slightly, holding the letter. 

Only the streetlights dimly lit the equipment in the park. 

“Were you waiting long…?” 

“I just got here.” 

“Well, sorry to do this so soon, but I’ll show you proof. I need to hurry as well.” 

A white human arm. Gradually, it changed form, becoming a black shape, thin and long like a cicada’s arm. 

“As written in the letter. Now do you believe?” 

All I could get from it was that everything Semiko had said was true. 

Yes, this woman was one of the people living in the “Cicada Kingdom” Semiko spoke of. 

We are bound by a set of rules. 

Second: If we desire, we can take on human forms during the summer only. 

Fourth: If we go out into the sun, we die. 

The woman walked ahead, leading me. After taking just a few steps, she tripped and scraped her knee. 

“I’m fine… Just faltered a bit.” 

As we walked, the woman kept talking. It was mostly what had been written in the letter, but I listened in silence. 

Semiko’s race, which lived eternally, was one among the “myriads of gods” spoken of in the human world. 

A forbidden love between god and man. The other gods were angered and cursed Semiko’s ancestor to take the form of a human, instating certain limitations - the aforementioned rules. 

“And we are still bound by that curse.” 

The curse gave the once-gods awful cicada-like forms, and so they came to be called monsters by humans. Contact with us became all but impossible. 

She said it to me happily, and there was not a shred of regret in her. 

I listened to the woman talk as we walked through the grove. 

Task…? I wondered what she could mean. 

We walked for a few minutes. Looking all around her, she suddenly stopped. 

She started digging up the ground with a shovel. 

I received a shovel from her and started to dig. The soil was softer than I expected, and it came up easily. 
Even as I dug, I couldn’t believe that Semiko was dead. I wondered if she might just appear

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