Vol 1 Chapter 3 (1/2)

Night 3: The Girl Who Died a Thousand Years ago

The Original Sin The first transgression huainst God The sin that Adaiven As their children, we still bear the burden of that act Pain is the method for hu dead ancestors It doesn’t matter who the person is - men, women, the elderly, children, the sick, the healthy, the wealthy, or the poor; pain is a part of everyone “Believe in religion and you shall be saved!” Do it so religion can flourish!+ Preying upon people’s fear and hardshi+p to force the is underhanded That’s called a bad deal Believing in religion only helps out after you’re dead, anyway There’s no reason to believe in it while you’re still alive

“Sensei, what exactly was the Original Sin?”

“Hmm You asked a question when you don’t understand, milady How splendid! Everyone should learn fro that created all the creatures in the world, also created hu soil and a rib from His own body to construct two hued these two hu an utopia called the Garden of Eden He also gave the in the Garden save for that of the apple tree in thethe fruit from that tree would result in death”

“Was the fruit poisonous then?”

“No, it wasn’t poison Do you know ‘Nutgall’? It was a story about a er monks a bottle and told theall Naturally, that all in the bottle at all, but the ured it out fairly quickly and ate all of his candy After he found out, the monk swore his head off”

“Is that a joke?”

“Everything like that is a joke The original story probably went a lot differently, but the basic gist is the same The fruit of the apple tree in the Garden of Eden wasn’t poisonous It was supposed to be only for God Himself There are several different theories as to what exactly the fruit was Soht and wrong Others say that it granted wisdom, or even immortality No matter what it was, the fact of the matter is Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was inal sin, a sin of theft You could probably even argue that it was false testimony as well In any case, Ada God, and that sin has still not been forgiven to this day Just as this “Apple” that God treasured sothat question is, I’ll lose hts if I dwell on it, so we’ll leave it there for today”

Ethics was the fourth class of the day for Year One, Class B Sakaki Guryū, who had taken over teaching for all subjects in this class, briefly went over the establishment of Judaism Sakaki had taken this all upon himself solely so that he could spend as ot this by bullying his way through the school because of his family In modern japan, which embraced equality but also coainst because of what family they were fro to challenge the Sakaki Organization just for the sake of being equal The Sakaki Organization had the financial weight to outclass the japanese budget As Sakaki Guryū was that organization’s heir, it was his right to use that power as he saw fit And besides that, this high school – Kannonsakazaki Private High School – was funded by the Sakaki Organization Co the school to a business, Sakaki would be the CEO’s son With that kind of leverage, there wasn’t anyone stupid enough to challenge his whims

It was the same with students as teachers

However –

“Hey you, girl with the sinister-sounding name Don’t fall asleep!”

”Bairl that was not only sleeping, but also snoring as if she were taunting hi on her arms Not only that, but she’d been like that since the first class of the day No student had ever slept in his class Sakaki’s pride had been significantly wounded Not one that had a lot of patience to begin with, this pushed him way over the line

The class grew quiet Ever since the ‘The 15th November Incident,’ the students had been very interested in the relationshi+p between Sakaki Guryū and the person sleeping right now – Gankyū Eguriko Thehappened, had suffered a wrench being thrown in the irl Just what move would the ultimate perfect teacher make next?

Sitting next to Gankyū Eguriko, or “Guriko,” Usagawa Rinne pecked on the girl’s head with her finger It was an uneven and messy head with aon the table she looked like a pile of hair In contrast, Rinne was very clean and neat, with short hair that didn’t even go down to her shoulders These two see, Guriko would at least listen to her

“Guriko-chan, Guriko-chan, get up”

A clear and carrying voice with a awa Rinne’s beautiful voice

“Sensei looks like he’s a bit angry It’d be best if you get up now!”

“So noisy!”

Guriko stayed how she was and declared without , “I sleep when I want to sleep It doesn’t ets destroyed Sleep is the greatest happiness I get Don’t worry about it I learned a long tio to sleep with one eye open Just like the last ti asleep, I still knew about it”

“Hmm…”

“…Therefore, there is absolutely no proble in the classroom You can blame the teacher with the fancy name, who looks down on my name I don’t even want to see his face, which is why I aot a problem with that?”

“I do have a problem with that It is extremely impolite to not listen to the teacher and sleep all day”

Sakaki had been there the entire tiht thud, his merciless fist et up, rubbing her head She stared at Sakaki

“What?! Why did you hit me? Even if I can’t feel the pain, my head still responds to the ionna repay me, sensei?!”

“It’s ‘Sakaki-Sensei’ Anyways, you’re not allowed to sleep during my class”

Sakaki’s words cary look fell upon Guriko’s face

“You didn’t even say you were sorry! I’m pissed You remember that, Sakaki”

“One day I’e out your eyeballs,” Guriko muttered quietly to herself

During lunch break on Friday, Nove the lunch Rinne made for hi rather fidgety So he asked her, “Are you well, milady? Does your stomach hurt?”

When asked this, Rinne lifted her head to look at Sakaki She wasn’t eating her lunch because of her loss of appetite again She hadn’t eaten for about ten days She had been to the doctor, but they chased her out when they couldn’t find anything wrong with her She hadn’t lost a single pound and continued her energetic lifestyle, completely oblivious of his worries This was a completely incomprehensible phenomenon A mystery that modern science couldn’t explain, Sakaki didn’t understand it any better All he could do was accept that it was supernatural and gave up on finding a rational explanation

Rinne suddenly looked away and displayed a rare expression of hesitation

Sakaki was a bit disturbed

“What’s wrong?”

“Um…”

With that pretty voice that Sakaki adored, Rinne asked fearfully, “sensei, do you dislike Guriko-chan?”

“Hmm?”

What did shethe question However, he always answered her truthfully, so Sakaki told the truth without hesitation

“I don’t like her and I don’t dislike her… honestly, I just feel guarded around her I still don’t knohat she is In h, I don’t know her intentions Just for hariveness Also, her personality is so self-centered it always feels like she’s looking down on ets onwith her”

“Is that so…”

Rinne’s expression was slightly at a loss

“Then sensei, didn’t you once say that Guriko-chan arrived at this school in order to trickin close so she could pull so–”

“I didn’t say it like that–”

“you did sensei!”

In a rare show of anger, Rinne said, “It’s just that Guriko-chan isn’t good with people I think she actually wants to get along with sensei Despite the fact she killed me and that mess with the lunches, she must have some reason that we don’t know about Guriko-chan would never want us to be unhappy! After living together with her, I know she isn’t a bad girl!”

“Milady is taking her side!!”

“Sensei is being paranoid!”

Rinne said loudly This was quite an incredible reaction for her She was apparently angry, and angry enough to yell at Sakaki at that Sakaki felt his heart churn as he couldn’t figure out how he had upset her so He just wanted Rinne to be safe Couldn’t she see that? No, it definitely got through Rinne wasn’t stupid His intentions were reaching her, but it was still ticking her off

Rinne kept her head bowed and continued, “I know sensei cares about lad, and I feel like I owe sensei the benefit of the doubt, but still–”

All of a sudden, her tone becaentle and she pressed her hand on her forehead, like so had immediately calmed her down

“– Aaa, no, I didn’tGuriko-chan She definitely isn’t going to harain”

“But how can you be so sure?”

Just how could she come to that conclusion? Why would she believe that so easily? That person has already killed you once, Milady Usarin Killed you by gouging out your eyeball How can you still believe such a horrifying demon?

Rinne had her head lowered for a long time, and said quietly, “sensei, Guriko-chan –”

It was a very sad sound

“She cries all night! Tossing and turning while having a nightmare, she cries out, ‘I don’t want to live anymore! Kill me! Kill me! I want to die! I can’t take this any uish until dawn It doesn’t look like she reh I think the reason Guriko-chan sleeps all day ht… Sensei, do you think such poor girl is a devil that wants to kill me?”

Rinne’s shoulders were shaking Although she didn’t cry, her heart seemed to

Sakaki looked pained, but he still couldn’t trust Guriko

“That is also – acting”

“So!”

“So as if she were talking to the air

“… Don’t fight, it’ll attract the Mushi+”

A clear and pure voice that drowned out any other noise called across the room

Rinne turned her head towards the voice, and Sakaki followed her gaze Guriko, who disappeared a while ago, was pulling open the classroom door with a squeak She walked towards them

As she did, she rambled on

“The Mushi+ are everywhere Even here in this classroooal, so they’ll ht Your advantage is that your love is so strong, so don’t lose that advantage”

“You’re the reason we’re fighting!”

“What?”

Surprise fell upon Guriko’s face She then brushed away her bangs and stared at Sakaki with her incredibly colored eyes It irl really wasn’t suited for a sailor uniform

“You’re fighting because of ? Sorry, but I had to do that to keep you two alive On second thought, though, uy die Why did I save him? He’s clearly a loser”

‘This guy’ and ‘loser’ were all uner was pointing at hiry? It was the first time in Sakaki’s life that he’d been called a ‘loser’

Rinne noticed that Sakaki was displeased, and a helpless expression showed up on her face

“Guriko-chan, why did you say that? It’s better to be honest with yourself – I know you want to get along with sensei, so you shouldn’t say things like that!”

“Don’t –”

Guriko probably wanted to rebuke her with ‘don’t talk nonsense’, but Rinne was quicker and elic smile

“I like Guriko-chan a lot!”

Rinne said naturally, “I want to be good friends with you, so don’t worry, I won’t hurt you! Sensei thinks the same way I know it”

Sakaki complained with a furrowed brow: “Milady, I still want to veto this speech of yours”

“Sensei is so stubborn Guriko-chan and sensei are really siood people, but became distant from each other since you can’t be honest to each other That’s a pity! You two should really get along, but can’t because you’re both stubborn How sad…”

Rinne’s face was still helpless, but she laughed as she spoke with a confident tone

“Huh?” “Yeah…?”

Her proclaape at her Both of the to think of how to deny the optiirl’s words

The peerless Rinne noticed the two had on the saht, They are definitely siently

They were memories, sad memories

“… You’re expendable” – I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard those words Yes, Mother, I’ue and poverty fall uponmy family Eat me if you must eat someone I’er support the children, I’d have been sacrificed without a second thought

If I’ my family!

It was a year of rampant sickness Everyone was frail and weak Their eyes were sunken in, and their skin was pale For the rural countryside, which barely sustained life as it was, this disease was like a wave of death Once a person got sick, the land died with thee, this was a matter of life and death My family, however, were robust people As if it didn’t concern them, they turned a blind eye to the pestilence However, I, as much more susceptible, was locked up in a set sick!” Of course, it wasn’t out of concern for ht the disease, I would pass it on to other people in the fah if you suffer, don’t bring us doith you”

I know, Mother, I understand Although ave me food to eat and a bed to sleep on I knew if I asked for anyselfish I liked the people in this family If misfortune fell on them because of me, I’d have been very sad It sounds pathetic, but that’s what I thought

The stone room et, and the air was stuffy I sat on the ice cold rock and fought against the chills It’s so dark in here; I can’t even see ed my knees and cried constantly

It wasn’t that I feared the dark It was that I was so very lonely

Just how long had it been? I sensed so fro on? Out of fear, I knocked on the wood panels blocking the entrance Father, Mother, my elder brothers, what had happened to them?

A deep and gloomy voice I’d never heard before responded,

“Ohyou’ve been locked up in that stone room!”

It wasn’t a man’s voice, but it wasn’t a woman’s voice either It was a voice that unnerved the listener

“Boom!” – the wood panels were easily broken I could see the shadow of a person standing between , and I took a few steps backwards I then tripped on sorabbed

“Alright, tiive it back!”

That’s what he said to uy’s eyes, and he didn’t look huaze shi+fted above his shoulder and I saw a terrible sight Father with his neck broken, Mother with her belly split open, and my elder brothers piled upon each other on the floor Everyone was dead I screamed

Uncaring of loomily silent

He see for me In order to find me, he’d killed my family just because they were in the way of his search He’s such a… bad guy, he’s… horrible And at thatat me expressionlessly

“Let’s confirm it first!”

A deep voice said right into my ears

Then he grabbedthroat

My vision dimmed

… It should have just been me Father, Mother, my elder brothers, I’m sorry

Opening her eyes, she saw only the endless sky Narrowing her eyes due to the blinding light, her hand went to her neck unconsciously The throat that should have been crushed didn’t even have a scratch on it Such things had disappeared long ago

“… So it was a dream”

Gankyū Eguriko muttered as she laid face-up on the roof of Kannonsakazaki Private High School, watching birds and planes passing above