Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Night 4: Loneliness ← Kodoku → Insect Poison

As the season had long changed into winter, the air that remained in the school corridors seeht Even the hazy scene that see chill When people talk about an ordinary school rarely praised or criticized, they h School However, this ordinary scene was currently showing soht that shone in through theht as if it were a ht corridor

There were about ten teenagers Since they were all wearing the uniforh School, they should be the school’s students! There were boys and girls with si as if they were the risen dead Their faces were full of gloo lost their human conscious

A these students in uniform, their leader was the only person as dressed oddly He was dressed with a long purple robe, holding a large crystal ball in his hands, and his red eyes still sparkled with residue light in the darkness

He was indeed the ave the Dreaawa Rinne, and survived Guriko’s attack He did not wear his hood The expressionless youth’s face was exposed in the school at the dead of night

This macabre team, led by the fortune teller, marched forward Soon they arrived at the third floor and stopped in front of a sealed classrooh so le word of conversation The surroundings were enveloped in a frightening stillness The fortune teller broke the silence and said: “… I see, it was indeed so very vicious!”

No one answered his words The fortune teller gave a look, urging a boy with a particularly thick build to step forward A rough and large axe was held in the boy’s hands In order to forbid people fro, the door of the sealed classroom had wooden panels nailed onto it The boy lifted the axe and chopped doards chaotically, destroying the door The sound of hi to break the others’ eardru time

‘Clack’, the wooden panel e-old thick dust filled up the air, but the fortune teller did not mind it at all He spoke to the students behind hiet inside –”

Without a word the students, their faces filled with lifeless and blank expressions, obeyed the fortune teller’s words and walked into the empty abandoned classroom

There was a strange ru this sealed classroom Reputedly, all the students who broke into this abandoned classrooely disappeared This ru evil’ was indeed within this classroom It was an existence that should never have been born in this world, so called a monster This was an existence similar to that of the fortune teller

“… Cos This is prepared particularly for you Please enjoy yourself As for having their souls already sucked away – please forgive me, as the best way to successfully control humans is to suck away the soul and make theion Bandanna, demonic beast of blood and flesh –”

The fortune teller spoke to the darkness that formed whirlpools in the classroo dazedly in the classrooures thus disappeared It looked to be truly hungry Hu it food In the pitch dark classrooer and hatred were raised to the ultimate level

With a satisfied expression on his face, the fortune teller looked al the de the students as it devored them

Unknown to hi behind him

“… What are you doing?”

“Oh dear”

The fortune teller turned his head A red-haired wo there

It was a Mushi+ It probably discovered that so in the school and came to ascertain the situation

The fortune teller waved a hand and spoke to the Mushi+ with the fe? Do you need to co?”

“Don’t play du”

The Mushi+ was une

“What’s your intention in feeding the carnivorous beast? You should know the danger in this, right? If it’s just a pointless game, then you must be disciplined as a Mushi+ –”

Just then, the expression on the Mushi+’s face froze

“You –”

Have they discovered me yet?

“Who? Who are you? You're not a Mushi+ – not one of us”

‘Shuuu’ – the fortune tellerquick speed that human eyes wouldn’t be able to see It was a speed that the Mushi+, whose physical abilities are not any higher than humans, can never have The crystal ball ie sound

The Mushi+ opened its red eyes wide in shock

“Wha –”

“I won't be stopped here!”

The sound came from behind the Mushi+

“– This is for my purpose”

Then, with his vicious teeth, the fortune teller bit deeply into the slender neck of the Mushi+ The Mushi+ gave out dying shrieks, waved its hands chaotically, but it was useless no led –

The Mushi+ soon disintegrated into thin air

“… Ah, don’t worry about it!”

The fortune teller spoke into the pitch dark classrooloomy voice

“Keep on enjoying your food till you’re full”

Then, ‘psst’, he laughed It was a very evil, purely evil laugh

The scene was changing She always felt that before – before she met Sakaki Guryū, the town had always felt so old and without charis back to the way it was before? Usagawa Rinne sighed, then wiped away the tears that trickled doithout her noticing

The ti just finished her work at the fastfood outlet, Rinne was currently riding her bicycle she hasn’t used it foreird sounds Everyherself as useless in the winter city after sunset Rinne curved up her body, enduring the chilling air that seemed to als of ‘pain’ concerning te to Guriko, it looks like it’ll take a long tis to disappear

However, it was said the heartache won’t disappear

“What… should I do?”

Sheabout soarded herself as some different existence before she ood way, but in a bad way, as if she was a ble object, a piece of crap Only afterGuryū did she realize she was definitely not so as a different existence, good or bad Everyone breathes, eats, sleeps, and lives in the same way It was humanity itself that used poverty, personality, social states, and thoughts to classify itself When she was fifteen, she followed the whi that she was a different existence, thinking that she was not worthy, useless even alive, and thus desired death Only when she met Guryū did she understand how to enjoy an ordinary life, and feel that she wasn’t different, just an ordinary human

However – she was no longer an ordinary human How can someone who has eternal life be ordinary? She hadn’t eaten anything, but can still move and speak Does such a creature count as human? How can it, how can it be!

“Sensei…”

She was thinking of Sakaki, thinking of the existence of her beloved

Humans will definitely one day part once they , one day separation will arrive in the fors, she never thought about it before They won’t be in a teacher-and-student relationshi+p once she graduates froh school They would becoether forever They would just have so about the separation that will arrive one day at last, just living on that way However… now she had to think of these things She had to think how she, on’t even be granted death, will part with Sakaki One day Sakaki will die, but she cannot die Therefore, she must decide on when to say farewell to hiround

“No…”

No, no, no, Rinneon the uneven ground The rass waved with a rustle, but Rinne was not in the mood to enjoy them

“How can this be, how can this be…”

It was rare for Rinne to speak such pessimistic words

She suddenly wanted to see Sakaki very much

I used to want a teddy bear very much, Rinne said What’s a teddy bear? Guriko asked without looking at Rinne Her sight was focused on the television in front of her, where the little Kirby plushi+e was ju cutely After yesterday’s ‘Obake no Q-Tarō’, Guriko was challenging action ga used to it, and the way her hand used the controller were far more dexterous

Rinne still couldn’t decide her future after listening to Guriko talking about the truth yesterday There were many choices She could stay beside Sakaki until he dies and travel with Guriko afterwards; she could also chose not go with Guriko after Sakaki's death and pass her soul to the Mushi+; or, as their relationshi+p wasn’t very intimate yet and the separation won’t hurt too deeply, she h she can easily think up these choices, she couldn’t make a choice as she loves Sakaki very much in reality

He saved Rinne’s life He was her object of admiration, her most important person in the world

“This thing, this teddy bear…”

Rinne was speaking of the past She felt she wanted to talk about it Although Guriko didn’t reply, it see attentively and would ask as soon as she has questions

“It’s a toy, a bear toy! Because it’s made in a very abstract way, it doesn’t really look like a bear anymore – I used to want it very much As to why I wanted it, I can’t remember the reason anymore”

“That’s how everyone was like when they were young!”

Guriko, clad in pajamas, controlled Kirby as she said words that ht of her years

“A child’s world is actually very s and infinitesimal for adults, children would feel it’s an iht?”

“That’s right!”

Rinne smiled and laid across the prepared bed The heated kotatsu table had long ago been pushed to the corner of the room, and the preparations before sleep were already complete

“It’s probably just like that But hts, and told s’ Since I couldn’t understand it, I kept throwing fits That was probably… the beginning”

The ti video games from when she caonna hurt your eyes!’, she’d reply: ‘They’ll recovery on its own” That was indeed true for her!

“After that, it just went all downhill As I grew up, my personality also became very distorted I beca that the entire world refuses to acknowledge led in this paranoia and began to be afraid, and began to distance myself from others…”

Based to what Rinne's current personality, it was very hard to iine this However, Rinne really did have such a time Back then she hated others, hated herself, and hated the world

Even hating life

“There was no place for et any solace at ho I liked or was interested in; I just kept accu stress Stress is very scary, Guriko; it’s definitely a monster The naay at that beautiful heart, and then I became someone hateful”

”Since I didn’t have the courage to be rebellious, I could only lockto stay in the roo locked in the roory he swore ‘you piece of crap’ while beatingme”

And Rinne completely snapped

She knew there was nothing good left even if she keeps living

Then finish it, she thought

“Had I not met Sakaki-sensei, I should probably be dead already It was at the seaside, the seaside during winter when there was absolutely no one around I alking on the e of where I would kill myself I wanted to die, I wanted to commit suicide Now that I think about it, it’s really scary, but back then I really did snap!”

Or it could be said that she was ave a small smile On the television screen, Kirby fell into a hole and died Play again! But there are no such chances in life

“… I ju to drownfor the deep waters I didn’t hope to be saved, and didn’t think anyone would save h to kill someone I remember it very vividly But all I felt then was that it was so cold”

“Death is not a war!” Rinne said

“That’s obvious!” Guriko said coldly

“But so Those crazy ones who think death is even happier than living”

“I know”

Guriko said evenly Confusion eed on Rinne’s face

“I tried to die a few ti i for the concept of death very much”

The reborn Kirby alking forward in high spirits

Guriko smiled unconsciously

“So I’ i that important existence – Sakaki Guryū - as your stable pillar, and lived on with happiness I’ that I left behind a long long tio That’s reasonable, because for the person that I aht now –”

Guriko suddenly had a lost expression

“– there isn’t anything or anyone important”

Even so, why did Guriko stay alive? Rinne tried to think The reason Guriko was alive was probably due to the fact that she ‘can’t die’, not that she ‘wanted to live’, right? This thought was just too pessiirl, in order to protect those who received the Apple froe her fas of duty, destiny, and hatred But I feel that she is very tough, and very gentle Guriko didn’t escape death, and she had fought alone to prevent her own ain

“Guriko”

“What?”

“Guriko, I –”

Rinne spoke from the depths of her heart: “– can’t I be the ‘most important’ person in Guriko’s heart?”

“Hmm…”

Guriko gave Rinne a look It was the look of a stray kitten picked up fro to be coquettish but weary at the same time It was an expression that wanted to rely on someone but fearful at the same time, mixed in with some clumsiness

“I don’t know…”

Guriko’s gaze returned to the television

“I like you I haven’ttis for a long while, therefore… I don’t know if I’er distinguish whether this is the noro”

The girl who had died a long, looong tiness and said: “I’ll tell you when I’ve come to a conclusion, Rinne Thanks for your kind words”

Tilting her head, Guriko still smiled clumsily

For just a brief moment, an expression showed on Rinne’s face as if she wanted to cry, but she quickly got back to the original topic

“Back to our previous topic, hmm… where e?”

“Where you jumped into the sea”

Guriko replied as she fought the boss at the same time

Rinne nodded

“Yes, I jumped into the sea to seek death As to why I chose the sea, it’s because it was close… also, it would trouble a lot of people if I committed suicide on the railway”

“You thought of others even back then! That’s really like you right now… hohoho”

Rarely, Guriko s at somewhere far away

“Sensei saved me there”

“Why would Sakaki be there?”

“Uh?”

Rinne’s eyes widened

Then Rinne tilted her head as if thinking about so

“– H of it, why indeed? No one swi winter, so ould sensei be there? Although I don’t know, I think sensei must be beside the sea due to so, and saved me”

“Sakaki was probably there to kill himself too”

“That’s impossible!”

Rinne burst out laughing due to Guriko’s words It would be impossible even if it was a joke

“Anyways, sensei saved me at the risk of his own life He then resuscitatednear death – Ahh, Guriko, why are you allowing me to say this!”

”Bam”, Rinne suddenly knocked on Guriko’s head

Shocked, Guriko looked at Rinne

Rinne looked very embarrassed

“… And then, sensei toldI shouldn’t kill myself, then – Ahaha, what do you think sensei, drenched from head to toe, said to ht Please marry me’ My brain froze, because I suddenly felt like Cinderella, with someone as handsome as sensei suddenly… to me…”

Rinne became red to the ears all of a sudden, while Guriko opened her eyes wide in shock She probably didn’t knohy Rinne was blushi+ng; perhaps Even Rinne herself didn’t know the reason!

“It was – at about this time last year, or a bit later At the end, I found the hope to keep living because Ito kill h School I didn’t know sensei would chase after me as a teacher…”

“That guy’s activity is pretty messy itself”

“But I was really happy! I liked sensei even back then Even now, I still feel thatsensei in the sea was like a dream…”

With a dreamy, euphoric expression, Rinne said softly with a hand on her chest

It was truly – miraculous Perhaps it could be called destiny!

Meeting Sakaki Guryū, who changed Usagawa Rinne’s life

At the sa of the terrible situation that Usagawa Rinne was now facing

As she easily went past level by level, Guriko said to Rinne with an innocent voice: “… Rinne, could it be that you ate it at that time?”

“Mm, I ate the Apple”

Rinne answered quietly Of course, this wasn’t the apple that you’d buy from the shops

That was the forbidden fruit that would give a hu on the tree at entrance to the next world, where only the chosen people could arrive at No one knohat conditions were used to choose the hu that was certain was that those who ate the Apple would never be able to die, and would forever be targeted by the Mushi+ as long as they are alive

“I think Usagawa Rinne died in that stretch of sea I was resurrected due to having eaten the Apple, and then receiving hope froave me a true rebirth, and that is why I am still alive today”

“Mmm…”

Guriko listened to Rinne with a gentle expression

Guriko had lived with her for alht In this short tiirl had become more human-like She didn’t appear to notice it herself, but she smiled more often, and her expressions were much more softened

Would I be able to more or less heal Guriko’s heart like Sakaki did to mine? Rinne smiled inwardly Rinne wanted to save Guriko for no particular reason She perhaps projected her old self, that didn’t have anything important in the world and wanted to die, onto Guriko! However, it could be said that it had nothing to do with it, and Rinne sih Guriko was rude and found it hard to understand others’ emotions, she wasn’t a bad person If that was the case, then it would be too pitiful for such a person to endure pain Therefore, Rinne sincerely wanted to help her

“ Sakaki… Guryū…?”

Guriko’s hands didn’t stop, and she said while she kept playing the video gauy really so charismatic?”

“Mmm, very”

Rinne replied immediately Guriko still said with a serious face: “I’d think so, since he’s the person whom you like”

Such delightful words

“I’ ith that guy too, and it seeuy, so I’ll back down But that guy still seeood friends!”

“Mood, Guriko”

Rinne was honestly glad It would be great if Guriko and Sakaki can get along peacefully That’d just be a face: “Should the three of us go soether sometime next week? It’d make us know each other better I don’t know if sensei would have the time, but the end-of-se either”

“I don’t !”

“No it won’t!”

Rinne laughed, and Guriko also smiled as she turned her face around –

“Huh –”

Suddenly, Guriko’s face beca

”… This…”

All of Guriko’sof the room