Mushi:Vol1 Ch3

Night 3: The Girl Who Died a Thousand Years ago

The Original Sin was the first transgression humans made against God. That sin, committed by Adam and Eve, was still not forgiven. We still bear the burden of that act as their children. Pain is how humans can redeem themselves. It was all the fault of those long dead ancestors. It doesn’t matter who you are - male, female, old, young, sick, healthy, rich, or poor - pain is a part of everyone. “Believe in religion and you shall be saved!” No, it was that so religion can flourish! It's an underhanded way of preying upon people’s fear and hardship to force them into believing. That’s called a bad deal. Believing in religion only helps out after you’re dead, anyway. So 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 something, Milady. How splendid! Everyone should learn from her! As for the answer, God, an almighty being that created all the creatures in the world, also created humans to rule over them. God saved humans for the last, using soil and a rib from His own body to construct two humans, a man and a woman. He charged these two humans, Adam and Eve, with tending an utopia called the Garden of Eden. He also gave them one warning. They could eat any of the fruit growing in the Garden save for that of the apple tree in the middle. Eating the fruit from that tree would result in death.

“Was the fruit poisonous, then?”

“No. It wasn’t poisonous. Do you know the story of ‘Nutgall’? It's a story about a monk who showed the younger monks a bottle and told them the content inside was the poisonous plant nutgall. Naturally, that meant it must not be eaten. However, it wasn’t nutgall in the bottle at all, but the monk’s stash of candy. The young monks figured it out fairly quickly and ate all of his candy. After he found out, the older man swore a storm.”

“Is that meant to be a joke?”

“Every story like that is meant to be 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 reserved only for God Himself. There are several different theories as to what exactly the fruit was. Some say it enabled humans to distinguish right from wrong. Others say it granted wisdom, or even immortality. No matter what it was, the fact of the matter was that Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was meant only for God. That was the original sin, a sin of theft. You could probably even argue that it was false testimony as well. In any case, Adam and Eve committed the ultimate sin of betraying God, and that sin has still not been forgiven to this day. Just what was this “Apple” that God treasured so much? Despite how interesting that question is, I’ll end up going off topic if I dwell on it, so we’ll leave it there for today."

Ethics was the fourth class of the day for class 1-B. Sakaki Guryū, who had taken over teaching all subjects for this class, briefly went over the establishment of Judaism. Sakaki had taken this all upon himself solely so that he could spend as much time as possible with Usagawa Rinne. He got this by bullying his way through the school using the name of his family. Modern Japanese society embraced equality, and employers wouldn’t discriminate against someone because of the family they were born in. However, modern Japan also embraced commercialism, and money still talked. Therefore, nobody was going to challenge the Sakaki Organization just for the sake of equality. The Sakaki Organization had the financial weight to outclass the Japanese national budget. As Sakaki Guryū was that organization’s heir, it was his right to use that power as he saw fit. Besides, this high school – Kannonsakazaki Private High School – was funded by the Sakaki Organization. If the school was considered as a business, then 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 well as teachers.

However –

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

"Bam!" Sakaki slammed his book down upon the desk of the girl who was not only sleeping, but also snoring as if she was taunting him. She was dead asleep with her head resting on her arms. Not only that, she had been sleeping 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 being someone that had a lot of patience to begin with, this behavior pushed Sakaki way over the line.

The class grew quiet. Ever since the "The 15th November Incident", the students had been very interested in the relationship between Sakaki Guryū and the person sleeping right now – Gankyū Eguriko. This mundane school life, this peaceful time during which nothing happened, was shattered by having a pebble thrown into this still pond, a pebble in the form of Gankyū Eguriko. What would Sakaki - the ultimate, perfect teacher - do?

Sitting next to Gankyū Eguriko, or “Guriko” as she was known, Usagawa Rinne poked the girl’s head with her finger. It was an uneven and messy head with a mass of hair cut like a wolf’s. With her lying on the table, Guriko looked just like a pile of hair. In contrast, Rinne was very clean and neat, with short hair that didn’t even reach her shoulders. These two seemed to be on good terms lately. If Rinne were to say something, Guriko would at least listen to her.

“Guriko-chan, Guriko-chan, get up.”

A clear and carrying voice with a melodic tone like a bell - that was Usagawa Rinne’s beautiful voice.

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

“So loud!”

Guriko didn't move at all and declared: “I sleep when I want to sleep. It doesn’t matter to me whether the teacher is angry or if the world gets destroyed. Sleep is the greatest happiness I get. Don’t worry about it. I learned a long time ago to sleep with one eye open. Just like the last time you got jumped on by the Mushi - even though I asleep, I still knew about it.”

“Hmm...”

“...There is therefore absolutely no problem with me sleeping in the classroom. Blame the teacher with the fancy name. I don’t even want to see his face, which is why I am sleeping through class. You get 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 standing there the entire time. Making a slight thud, his merciless fist made contact with Guriko's head. Even she had to get 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 impact. Now I'm wide awake. How are you gonna repay me, Sensei?!”

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

Sakaki’s words came out haughtily. An angry look fell upon Guriko’s face.

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

I’m going to gouge out your eyeballs one day, Guriko muttered quietly to herself.

During lunch break on Friday, November the 26th, Sakaki was eating the lunch Rinne made for him. He noticed Rinne, who sat in front of him, looking rather fidgety. So he asked her, “Are you well, Milady? Does your stomach hurt?”

Rinne lifted her head to look at Sakaki in response. She wasn’t eating her lunch again because of her loss of appetite. She hadn’t eaten for about ten days. She had been to the doctor, but they kicked her out when they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She hadn’t lost a single pound in weight and continued her energetic lifestyle, completely oblivious to 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 she mean by that? There were a hundred ways of answering the question. However, he always answered her truthfully, so Sakaki told her 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 know what she is. In many ways, she’s very inhuman. More than that, though, I don’t know her intentions. For me, she’s already beyond forgiveness just because she hurt you. Also, her personality is so self-centered it always feels like she’s looking down on me, which really gets on my nerves. There’s no way I’d be able to get along with 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 trick me? You said she was getting close to me so she can pull something – ”

“I didn’t say it like that – ”

“You did!”

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 had some reasons 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, you are taking her side!!”

“Sensei, you are 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, she definitely understood that. Rinne wasn’t stupid. She understood his intentions, but it was upsetting her.

Rinne kept her head bowed and continued. “I know Sensei cares about me. I’m glad, and I feel like I owe Sensei the benefit of the doubt, but still –”

All of a sudden, her tone became gentle and she pressed her hand on her forehead, like something had immediately calmed her down.

“– Aaa, no, I didn’t mean that... but Sensei, please, please stop suspecting Guriko-chan. She definitely isn’t going to hurt me again.”

“But how can you be so sure?”

Just how could she come to that conclusion? Why would she believe Guriko 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 –”

Her voice was very sad.

“She cries all through the night! She yells things out loud while tossing and turning in her nightmares. She would say, ‘I don’t want to live anymore! Kill me! Kill me! I want to die! I can’t take this any mooooooore! Kill me, kill me, kill me!’ She would be in anguish until dawn. It doesn’t look like she remembers it, though. I think the reason Guriko-chan sleeps all day must be because she can’t sleep peacefully at night... Sensei, do you think such poor girl is a devil that wants to kill me?”

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

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

“That is also – acting.”

“Something like that isn’t acting! ...Something like that isn’t acting.” Rinne repeated, muttering as if she was talking to the air.

“... Don’t fight. It’ll attract the Mushi.”

A clear and pure voice that drowned out every other noise called from 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 walked, she rambled on.

“The Mushi are everywhere, even here in this classroom. Those things will do anything to obtain their goal, so they’ll make their move at the first signs of weakness. Don’t fight. Your advantage is that your love is so strong, so don’t lose that.”

“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 might be irrelevant, but this girl really wasn’t suited for a cute sailor uniform.

“You’re fighting because of me? Ah, you’re still hung up on that lunch thing? Sorry, but I had to do that to keep you two alive. On second thought, though, maybe I should have just let this guy die. Why did I save him? He’s clearly a loser.”

‘This guy’ and ‘loser’ were all unmistakably referring to Sakaki, because Guriko’s finger was pointed at him at the same time. Why did she say things to make him angry? 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 muted the girl’s words with her own angelic 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 similar! Both of you are obviously good people, but you are distant from each other because you can’t be honest to each other. That’s such a pity! You two should really get along, but you 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 proclamation made the other two gape at her. Both of them had expressions like they were trying to think of ways to deny the optimistic girl’s words.

Rinne noticed the two had the same expression and thought They are definitely similar! She then smiled gently.

These were sad memories.

“... You’re expendable” – I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard those words.

Yes, Mother, I’m expendable to you. Let the gods of plague and poverty fall upon me alone, sparing my family. Eat me if you must eat someone. I’m an adopted child anyways.

If the family could no longer support the children, I would be sacrificed without a second thought.

If I’m going to die, then let me die protecting my family!

It was a year of rampant sickness. Everyone was frail and weak. Their eyes were sunken in, and their skin was pale. The rural countryside, which barely sustained life as it was, felt a wave of death from this disease. Once someone got sick, then their land would die with them. For a poor village, this was a matter of life and death. My family, however, were robust people. They turned a blind eye to the pestilence as if it didn’t concern them. However, I was much more susceptible, and I was locked up in a small stone-walled room. “Don’t come out! You’ll get sick!” Of course, it wasn’t out of concern for my safety that they said that. Mother was afraid that if I catch the disease, I would pass it on to other people in the family.

“You are expendable,” Mother said. “It'd be enough if you're the only one suffering. Don’t bring us down with you.”

I know, Mother. I understand. Although my family treated me like dirt, they still gave me food to eat and a bed to sleep in. I knew God would punish me for being selfish if I asked for anything more. I like the people in this family. I would be very sad if misfortune fell on them because of me. It sounds pathetic, but those were my thoughts.

The stone room was wet 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 my own hands. I hugged my knees and cried constantly to chase away the cold.

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

Just how long had it been since I was put here? I sensed something was wrong. I could hear a lot of commotion coming from outside of the room. What’s going on? I knocked on the wood panels blocking the entrance out of fear. Father, Mother, my older brothers - what had happened to them?

A deep and gloomy voice, one that was completely novel to me, responded,

“My my, I was wondering where you might be. You’ve been locked up in that stone room all along!”

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

“Boom!” – the wood panels were shattered easily. I could see the shadow of a person standing between me and the daylight. My body was shaking, and I took a few steps backwards. I then tripped on something and lost my balance, so that person grabbed me and held me up with both hands, laughing.

“Alright, time to give it back!”

That was what he said. There was a red glow shimmering in that guy’s eyes, and he didn’t look human. My gaze moved beyond him and saw a terrible sight. My father had his neck snapped. My mother was lying with her belly sliced open. My elder brothers were casually piled upon each other on the floor. Everyone was dead. I screamed.

Uncaring of my screams, the red-eyed person remained gloomily silent.

He seemed to be looking for me. He killed my whole family just because they were in the way of his search for me.

He’s such a... villain. He’s... horrible.

And that horrible villain was looking at me expressionlessly.

“Let’s confirm it first!”

A deep voice sounded right into my ears.

Then he grabbed my screaming throat and my vision dimmed.

... Misfortune should have just been limited for me. Father, Mother, brothers... I’m sorry.

Opening her eyes, Guriko saw only the endless sky. Her hand went to her neck unconsciously as her eyes narrowed in the blinding light. Her throat, which should have been crushed, didn’t even have a bruise 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 the Kannonsakazaki Private High School school building, watching the birds and the occasional plane passing above.

It seemed she dreamt of the past while she was dozing. It was maddening – it was a distant memory from when she was still human, back when she had parents and brothers. That had been a millennium ago. It was a vague memory she had almost forgotten –

Three birds flew past. They flew in front of the sun, so all she saw of them were their black silhouettes.

She murmured to herself as she reminisced on the past.

“Birds don’t change. They kept their shape the entire time. Humans, on the other hand, have changed a lot. What about me? Is there anything in me that’s different from back then? Of course things changed. I laughed easily back then. I had things that were important to me. I was happy. When did I begin to leave all that behind? When did I lose it?”

“How long am I supposed to live?” Guriko muttered as she continued to watch the birds.

Three birds. Three creatures that lived by eating worms. These animals never stopped being birds. They were the same as they were all those years ago. I, however, had long ago ceased to be human.

“The three birds were reduced to two, and now I’m the only one left. It doesn’t matter if I’m alone. I don’t want Rinne to be a part of this, but the Apple had already taken root in her. It’s just like what happened to me – it’s too late now. Whatever happens now is just going to lead to misfortune. Change into a bird, or die with humans...”

Guriko stood up with a wobble, her eyes still fixed upon the birds flying away into the distance.

“... It should have been fine with me being the only unfortunate one!”

Guriko repeated those words she so spoke so often.

“Seeing her crying face... it hurts me too much.”

Guriko put her hand on her chest.

“But I must tell her the truth.”

She was used to being despised, and she knew there wouldn’t be any reward for her actions.

The hours flew by as she sorted through letters and cleaned up her work area. Her shift over, Usagawa Rinne left the post office after saying goodbye to her colleagues. She enjoyed this job quite a bit. Despite the work being a bit repetitive, it got pretty fun after she became used to it. Also, everyone working there was really nice. Checking her cell phone, she saw it was already after 8 o'clock and the sun had set long ago. Rinne got on her bike, which was parked behind the post office, and took off down the uneven streets, leaving white puffs of breath as a trail in the air behind her. It wasn’t too late, although there were very few people on the street and most of the shops had closed down. Occasionally there would be the stray pedestrian, waddling home from work with a weary expression on their face.

It used to be that Rinne would also be extremely tired after finishing work, but now she wasn’t even feeling weary. With no appetite, automatically healing for any, and even losing the sense fatigue - do I still count as a human? These thoughts made her feel sad.

Rinne didn’t know what Sakaki thought of all this, and she was rather puzzled herself. What kind of conspiracy did she get herself into? What was happening to her? Who is Guriko-chan? She really wanted to know these things. This wasn’t something she took lightly. She seriously wanted to know the truth.

However, thinking about it wasn’t getting her anywhere. Despite analysing what Gurkio-chan and the Mushi had said, she couldn’t figure it out. Whether it was a lack of imagination or just being plain dumb, the answer was out of her reach. Rinne was almost out of options.

The ten-minute-long commute wasn’t long enough to think things through. Before she managed to organize her uneasy questions, Rinne was already home. Was Guriko-chan there already? It felt nice to have someone waiting for her in the house.

“I’m home!”

Rinne spoke as she opened the door and took off her shoes at the entrance. As she expected, she heard a familiar, chirpy tune. Guriko-chan was sitting in front of the very large television that really stuck out from the rest of the room, and she was playing a video game. She was playing on an old console that stores now sold at a really cheap price. The system was only around 300 yen and the game she bought was only 100 yen. 400 yen covered everything. The game she was playing was ‘Obake no Q-tarō'.

The wobbling and adorable little Q-tarō wandered across the screen, but it soon hit the dog and it was Game Over. It looked like Guriko-chan didn’t really know how to play video games. Considering she had never seen any before, that was fairly understandable.

Without turning around, Guriko immediately started the game again and asked Rinne, “Did you have to work today too?”

“Mmm, yeah, I was at work.”

Rinne put her coat on a hanger and then sat down next to Guriko, watching Q-tarō lose to the dog again. She really hadn’t gotten a grasp on the game yet.

Guriko’s face wasn’t happy.

“... This is pretty boring. I can’t win against the dog. The problem is I don’t have any attacks. How am I supposed to get past him, Rinne? Do you know?”

”... The instructions said that pressing A twice will make you fly, and pressing B will make you disappear. So, just use those two abilities... Aah, right there! Use the fly to dodge, ah – too bad!”

“Ahh... ”

With a serious face, Guriko-chan played for a good while after that. Unfortunately, though, there didn’t seem to be much improvement. She finally gave up after a while and unplugged the system before turning to Rinne and looking at her.

“Rinne, I’ve given it some thought.”

“... Given what some thought?”

“I’ve been withholding the truth, but I’ve reached my limit.”

Guriko asked innocently, “Do you have the courage to hear the truth?”

Rinne didn’t speak a word.

“You’ll probably end up cursing your fate once you know the truth But if you think you can take it, then I’ll tell you. I’m afraid I’ll ruin your happiness. I don’t want to make you lose what you have with Sakaki by telling you this. But that’s a bit naïve. You’ve already received the Apple. As for knowing the truth, not only do you have the right, it is also your – duty.”

”Mmm...”

Rinne knew Guriko-chan’s expression was a serious one. She couldn’t be lying to Rinne. She’ll definitely tell me the truth as long as I say that I want to know. But – I’m so scared. There’s an irrational fear, as if Guriko-chan’s words would shatter the peace of this world. That was what she felt.

“Tell me.”

However, Rinne answered without hesitation.

”I hate to be in the dark like this, no matter how cruel the truth is. Tell me the truth, Guriko-chan. I’d rather face the truth, instead of being afraid of what I don’t know.”

“You’re really tough!”

Guriko smiled softly. It was a very natural smile.

“Will you believe me? You won’t yell at me and say that I’m lying to you? You will believe me no matter how cruel the truth I tell you turn out to be?”

“I will believe you!”

“Thank you –”

Guriko-chan’s face turned serious again.

“– Then I’ll also believe in you. I believe that you will overcome fate.”

It is said that once a human dies, they shall start on a journey. Some people go to gardens, some go on a boat and cross rivers, and there are also those who walk on a long straight road. Such scenes are illusions created by the brain, just like a dream. And there is always a great tree in that illusion.

When Gankyū Eguriko was still known as Yono (a surname that she discarded when she left her village behind a thousand years ago), she tripped on a moss-covered rock and fell into the river while fishing. She swallowed a lot of water and hit her head hard. It almost killed her. She dreamed, then, of walking along an uneven road and eventually coming to face a giant tree filled with fruit.

“Wow, this fruit looks really good.”

She said that as she gazed upon the fruit of the tree. They looked quite appealing in the unsettling scene around her.

“I don’t know who owns these, but it shouldn’t hurt if I just take one, right? Father’s been beat down by the weather. He could use some of these fruits to get his strength back.”

It would be pretty special if she brings back fruits instead of fish, anyways! Yono made up her mind, then climbed nimbly up the large tree and plucked an apple low to the ground. She didn’t realize that she was dreaming. In reality, she was floating in a pool of water at the foot of a waterfall, covered in blood and hovering on the edge of death.

“Hmm – I’ve never seen this kind of fruit. Is it good to eat? Well, I’ll try it. Just one can’t hurt, right? My tummy’s growling anyways.”

"Crunch”, Yono bit right into the red, ripe forbidden fruit. It was so yummy! She ate the entire thing before she realized it. It had been the tastiest, most refreshing, and juiciest fruit she’d ever eaten. Yono was overjoyed. This was such a big discovery. She should bring some back to her family! So she stretched out her hand to pluck four more apples – only to woke up from her dream, having been returned to life.

The pouring waterfall sprayed right onto her face as soon as she opened her eyes. She was floating in pool like a fishing buoy, bobbling constantly.

“It was… a dream?”

Yono muttered. The sharp pain in her head made her eyes roll backwards a bit. Fortunately, the water wasn’t very deep, and she could stand in it. It wasn’t difficult to get back to land.

“So – I slipped while catching fish...”

Yono was frightened of the large amount of blood she had lost as she wrung her drenched clothes dry. She was on the verge of tears the entire time.

“I had - such a strange dream. What was that about?”

Yono thought about it for a while, then returned home and to her mundane daily life. She soon forgot all about that incredible dream. It was five years later when she finally thought of that dream again.

That forbidden fruit was called "Apple of Eden", or simply "the Apple". Actually, it wasn’t an apple at all. It was only called that due to its appearance. Those who eat that Apple will be granted the power of immortality. They would not die even if their heads were crushed, their hearts torn out, or if they starve or suffocate. They will not age and will live forever, regardless of the passage of years. It was also impossible for these people to escape the curse of immortality. The fact that Guriko herself hadn’t reached adulthood after living for over a thousand years was proof of this.

Guriko – Yono - ate the Apple when she was a child. However, the Apple didn’t grant immortality a human instantly. Should the person die before the Apple took root, the person would still perish. In fact, this was why Guirko tried to kill Usagawa Rinne. Eternal life was a fate worse than death. Rather than letting the girl suffer, it was better to kill her quickly! That was Guriko's style of cruel kindness. She truly acted out of pity. However, her plan failed. Rinne’s Apple had already taken hold, and even Guriko could not kill her.

The place the Apple took root was in the soul and not the flesh, so the Apple can not be taken away no matter what happens to the body. The Apple can also affect causality and bestow special powers, such as Guriko’s combat ability. That was why Guriko could slip into the school so easily. It seems the more Apples a person had, the more powerful the effect. The reason Guriko had such extraordinary powers was due to the fact she had three Apples.

Three Apples. Usually, that would mean Guriko had once taken Apples from two other people. However, it wasn’t stealing so much as receiving two gifts. Guriko had traveled with these two people, a man and a woman, for a very long time. Those two each had an Apple, and seemed to have wandered the world since a long, long time ago. They decided to travel with Guriko after she saved them from the Mushi. Their families had also been slaughtered by the Mushi, and they were left wanting answers.

But after seven hundred years, the mind of the woman deteriorated and she chose to end her life. She disappeared into nothingness after entrusting her Apple to Guriko. The man who loved her also lost the will to live on, and he too passed his Apple to Guriko, ending his journey. After that, Guriko lived for about three hundred years by herself.

Guriko didn’t have anyone she could entrust the Apples to, so she traveled around the world and fought the Mushi to avenge her family. The Mushi was the common enemy of all humans with Apples. In order to kill the other Apple holders on time, Guriko sought them out while hunting the Mushi. It should have been fine with just her being immortal. The so-called immortality was nothing but absolute misery. Guriko shouldn’t have eaten that damned Apple to begin with. The girl who died a thousand years ago lived till now in this fashion. Having lost everything that was important to her, Guriko wandered through time waging her solitary war against the Mushi.

Usagawa Rinne’s face paled as she heard this cruel reality. She then brought up a question that was heavy on her mind.

“The Mushi – what are they?”

“I don’t know.”

Guriko replied honestly. It was definitely not an answer Rinne expected.

Faced with Rinne, who was flabbergasted at this reply, Guriko was apologetic.

“I really don’t know anything about those things. Even the two travelers who guided me seemed to not know much, only that those things are everywhere and they only act in order to take humans’ Apples. You seem to have been under surveillance for a long time, too. I started investigating this place because this town has a lot of Mushi, then I discovered you. That’s how all this started –”

Guriko ran her hand through her wolf-like hair and then said seriously: “But those things are definite the enemy of those of us with Apples, and they will do everything they can to get the Apples! I’ve come across two others who had Apples in the past. One was killed by the Mushi. The Mushi had somehow extracted the soul of the other, leaving a corpse behind. After all, the Apple takes root in the soul. Once the soul is gone, everything is over.”

“Is the soul something that can be taken away?”

“I don’t know, but I think there must be a way. The Mushi have definitely managed to steal many people’s Apples.”

Guirko said that in an uncaring voice as if it didn't matter, even if she had no idea how the Mushi managed it.

Usagawa Rinne thought about this girl sitting in front of her. Gankyū Eguriko was a lone soldier who wandered the Earth for a millennium. She felt sorry for Guriko. Life must have been so hard and painful for Guriko!

Rinne hugged Guriko tightly.

Although Guriko mumbled a complain, she stopped refusing Rinne's hug when she found that Rinne was crying.

“Guriko-chan...”

“Mmm.”

“You must be very lonely, and in such pain!”

”Mmm –”

Guriko placed her head on Rinne’s chest, exasperated. The girl who died a thousand years ago had all her family killed. She was unable to connect to anyone, and was parted from the companions she cared for. Even so, she never gave up and managed to live on. Rinne thought this was an amazing feat. It was definitely something that deserved respect.

And it was also very sad.

Why did Guriko-chan have to endure this pain?

Rinne sobbed. This kind girl of sixteen years gave all of her tears to the lonely girl who fought continuously for ten centuries. Rinne pitied Guriko and wanted to show Guriko all the kindness she could. In order to even slightly heal Guriko’s heart, no doubt ravaged by scars, Rinne hugged Guriko tightly.

I want to give Guriko the will to live on, just like what Sakaki did for me last year. Rinne thought.

Guriko must have understood that. Silently, she let Rinne hug her.

“... Rinne.”

A short while latter, Guriko murmured softly. Her words became a coarse whisper as if she were suppressing her emotions, as if speaking those words wounded her deeply.

“Now you, too, can no longer die.”

”Mmm –”

Rinne murmured. Although she still couldn’t accept such heavy news, she understood that she could no longer live as calmly as she had previously.

The world was no longer the same for her.

Guriko remained in Rinne’s arms and said with a quavering voice: “So now you have two choices. One is to live with me forever, and the other is to disappear after you give up your soul to the Mushi. There is no salvation either way, and I can’t tell you if either will bring you any joy. You need to decide for yourself...”

Guriko moved away from Rinne a bit, and looked at her with innocent eyes.

“No matter what you choose, you will eventually lose Sakaki. Your life is endless, but his is not. One day, when Sakaki’s time reaches its end, he’ll leave you behind and die.”

Rinne nodded. Her eyes were once again brimming with tears, which slid down her cheek and dripped to the ground from her chin.

Then, a solemn expression appeared on Guriko’s face.

“If it is you wish, then I will protect you two until Sakaki dies! No matter which choice you make, I will still do that for you. You can create happy memories with Sakaki, and you can even stay beside him until he dies of old age. Then it would be up to you to whether travel with me or give your soul to the Mushi. I’ll help you the best I can.”

“Let me think about it a bit more.”

Rinne replied. She still couldn’t get her thoughts straight.

Guriko nodded.

“You can think about it for as long as you like... after all, time is no longer an issue.”

Return to Night 2: The 15th November Incident

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Forward to Night 4: Loneliness ← Kodoku → Insect Poison