Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Kara no Kyoukai:Chapter01 06

2008-05-23T09:43:49Z

24.14.209.26: removed language about Shiki's gender

Overlooking View／

The sun has set and we leave Tohko-san's abandoned building. Shiki's apartment is in the area but my place is twenty minutes away from here by train. Tiredness showed in Shiki, who is walking a bit shakily, but nonetheless stays by my side.

"Do you think suicide is right, Mikiya?'

Shiki suddenly asks me that out of the blue. That downcast expression looks a bit touching.

"Hmm, I don't know. Let's say I get this virus that will kill everybody in Tokyo just by me staying alive. If everyone would be saved if I die, then I'd probably kill myself."

"What is that? That's so unlikely that it's not even a what-if story."

"Let me finish, I think I'd do that because I'm weak.

I'm going to kill myself because I don't have the courage to keep on living and turn all of Tokyo into my enemy. That's easier, right? Courage for an instant and courage that needs to continue throughout your life. You know which one is harder.

It's an extreme argument, but I think death is running away, no matter what kind of determination is behind it. But there are times when the concerned person wants to run away. I can't deny it or refute it, because I'm a weak person as well."

Hmm, but this seems like I'm saying it's all right for someone to do so because I'd do so too. Self-sacrifice in that case is probably the right thing to do, and that action would be called heroic. But that's wrong. It's foolish to choose death no matter how noble or right it is. No matter how wrong or low it is, we have to keep on living to make right our wrongs.

We have to live on and accept the end of the things we've caused. That is something that takes a lot of courage. I don't think I could do that myself, and it sounds too cocky, so I decide not to say it.

"...Well, anyways... I think it's just different for everyone."

I end rather vaguely and Shiki looks at me doubtfully.

"But you're different"

Shiki says so as if seeing inside my mind. Whilst initially cold-sounding, the words feel warm somehow. It's a bit embarrassing, so I walk on for a while silently. The clamor of the main street is getting closer. Sounds, bright lights, engine sounds. Flooding waves of people and the many sounds they make. If we pass the department stores, we'll be able to see the station right ahead.

Then, Shiki stops.

"Mikiya, come over to my place tonight."

"Huh? Why, all of a sudden?"

Shiki grabs me, saying that it doesn't matter.

It is indeed easier to stay at Shiki's place since it's nearby, but I don't feel like doing so, on moral grounds.

"It's fine. You don't have anything in your room either. It's boring even if I do go. Or are you telling me there's something I have to do there?"

I know there's no such thing. I said so knowing that, so there shouldn't be anything for Shiki to say back... or at least I think so. But Shiki looks at me as if I'm the cause of the problem.

"Strawberry."

"Huh?"

"Two strawberry Häagen-Dazs. They're still there there after you bought them. Finish those things off, man."

"...I guess I did buy those."

Yes I did. They were something I bought because of how hot it is while walking to Shiki's place. Then again, it's almost September after all, so I wonder why I bothered...

Well, I don't care about small things. I guess my only choice is to obey Shiki. But just obeying is a bit irritating, so I decide to strike back a little.

Shiki has a vulnerable point where, when I say this, Shiki gets mad but can't say anything back.

Even though it is a wish from the bottom of my heart, Shiki still has yet to take my advice.

"All right, I'll spend the night. But Shiki..."

Shiki looks at me as I advise with a straight face.

"You shouldn't talk like that. You're a girl, you know."

Shiki looks away, angrily.

Overlooking View／Finish

Kara no Kyoukai:Chapter01 04

2008-05-23T08:44:47Z

24.14.209.26: removed language about Shiki's gender

→／3

''---------The bone in my nape creaks.

''Is the cold that's making me tremble coming from outside or inside my body?''

Leaving what can't be distinguished aside, Shiki keeps walking.

There's no sign of human activity at the Fujiyoh building.

''It's two in the morning. Only the white light illuminates the hallway of the mansion. The cream-colored walls are bathed in light and I can see to the end of the hallway. The light which steals away the darkness feels eerily artificial and unnatural.

''Passing by the card checker at the entrance, I enter the elevator.

''It's empty inside. A mirror is bolted to the rear panel of the elevator for the convenience of the passenger. Watching me with lazy eyes from the inside of the mirror is someone wearing a black leather jacket over a light blue kimono. Eyes that look like they care about nothing.''

Shiki glances at the figure in the mirror, and pushes the button that says "R". With a small start-up sound, the world around Shiki rises. The motor-driven box will reach the top floor in a matter of seconds.

It is a closed-off room for the time being. Nothing occurring outside right now concerns Shiki, and it is impossible to be concerned with the outside world. That feeling seeps into the supposedly empty mind. This small box is the only world I'm supposed to feel right now.

The door opens without a sound. What's outside is a totally different world, a world of darkness.

After arriving at the annex, containing only the door leading to the rooftop, the elevator leaves Shiki and descends back towards the first floor. There are no lights, and the surroundings are painfully dark.

Heading across the small room, Shiki pushes open the door to the rooftop.

... The deep darkness becomes faint.

''The outline of the city fills my vision.''

The rooftop of the Fukiyoh building is a plain one. The floor is made of flat concrete, and there is a fence that surrounding the perimeter of the roof. A solitary water tower stands atop the annex, but there is nothing else particularly significant.

The rooftop itself is a plain one, but the view from it is out of this world.

The view of the night town from this building that is at least ten stories higher than its surroundings feels perhaps more lonely than beautiful. It feels like you're on top of a tall ladder looking down onto the world. The depths of this sea view, however, are certainly beautiful. The electric lights dotted here on there give off a warm luminescence like that of an anglerfish.

''If my view right now is that of the whole world, then the world right now is indeed asleep, as if eternally, but fortunately it's only temporary. The silence tightens my heart more than any coldness, and it is rather painful...

''The coldness of the night sky stands out as just much as the coldness below. If the town is the deep sea, then the sky is just pure darkness. In the darkness, stars glitter like jewels. The moon is a void in this darkness - a large hole in a big black canvas known as the night sky. So that thing is really not a mirror of the sun, but rather a view of "the other side"... That's what I heard at the house of the Ryougi. According to them, the moon is a gate to another world.''

Since ancient times, the moon has carried magic, women, and death. And with that moon behind it, a human form is floating...

... With eight girls flying around it.

◇

The white figure in the night sky is that of a woman. She wears a fancy white garment that one might mistake for a dress, and has long black hair reaching down to her waist. Her arms and legs are slender, and they make this woman look even more beautiful.

''The thin brow and the cold eyes are beautiful. I can estimate she's in her twenties. Although it's doubtful that you can fit an age meant for a living being onto something like a ghost.''

But the white woman is not abstract like a ghost. She is really there. The girls aimlessly flocking around the woman seem to match the definition of "ghost" better than her; their lazy floating makes them seem more like they are swimming than flying. Even their figures and forms are abstract, as they flicker into transparency from time to time.

What's above Shiki right now are the white woman and the girls floating as if to protect her.

The whole sight is not horrifying. No, this is more like...

"Hmph, this is indeed demonic."

Shiki sneers.

This woman's beauty is no longer that of a human's. Her black hair is especially luxurious, each strand with a silken sheen and texture. If the wind were stronger, her figure with hair flowing about it would have been a profoundly beautiful image.

"Then I shall have to kill you"

Perhaps hearing Shiki's murmur, the woman looks down. The woman is four meters above this rooftop which is already over forty meters high. The woman and Shiki's gazes meet.

There are no words to speak, nor is there a language to communicate with.

Shiki reaches a hand into her leather jacket and draws a knife. A small sword by any other name, with a blade perhaps some eighteen centimeters long.

Shiki's consciousness is filled by the killing intent of the gaze piercing down from above her.

The white figure sways. Her arm flows and a slender finger points at Shiki. That slender, fragile arm does not remind Shiki of ''white''.

"... More like bones, or a lily"

In the windless night, her voice hung in the air for a long time.

----

The will put into the fingertip is the intent to kill.

The white fingertip points at Shiki.

Shiki's head sways. The thin body steps once to regain its balance. But only once.

"---------"

The woman overhead hesitated a bit from that.

The ''suggestion'' that "you can fly" is not working on this person.

Her power can give someone the impression that "they were flying" - more of a brainwashing than a "suggestion" by any normal definition. There is no way to fight it, and as a result, one actually tries to fly, or conversely runs away from the fear of being able to fly. But Shiki was able to withstand it with just a small daze.

"---------"

The woman wonders if the contact was too weak, and decides to use ''suggestion'' again.

But this time, stronger. Not a weak impression like "You can fly" but she orders firmly: "You have to fly!".

But before that, Shiki looks at the woman.

''One on each of her legs, one on her back, and one point on her left chest. The cutting section called ''death'' can be certainly seen. The one on her chest would be a good one to aim for. That would be an instant kill. Even if that woman is just an image, I could kill a God.''

Bringing the knife to bear in a firm reverse grip, Shiki glares at the enemy in the sky.

The impulse assails Shiki once more.

''...I can fly. I can fly. I liked the sky from before. I was flying yesterday too. I could probably fly higher today. Freely. Feeling peaceful. Laughing. I have to go quickly...

''Where? To the sky? Free? ... That's...

''Escape from reality. Yearn for the sky. Reaction to gravity. No feet on ground. Flight under unconsciousness.

''Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go------------------ GO!''

"You've got to be kidding me."

Saying that, Shiki raises the empty left hand.

The suggestion does not work anymore. Shiki is not even phased.

"I don't have that kind of admiration for the sky. I don't feel alive, so I don't know the pain of living. To be honest, I don't care about you at all."

...A murmur more like singing.

Shiki does not feel any restraint, joy or sorrow in life.

That's why Shiki is not attracted to the liberation from pain.

"But I don't like you keeping him. I got him first, so I'm taking him back."

Shiki's left hand grabs the empty air and pulls back.

As if being pulled by the left hand, the woman and the girls are pulled toward Shiki like fish being reeled in with a net.

"---------!"

The woman's expression changes. She puts more resolve into her will and pounds it against Shiki.

If she could communicate with Shiki, she would have screamed

"Fall!"

Ignoring the curse, Shiki responds in an icy tone.

"You fall."

The knife drives into the chest of the woman as she is forced downwards. As simply and swiftly as slicing through a fruit, and with such precision that even the woman feels a brief glimpse of admiration.

There is no blood.

The woman, unable to move from the shock of the knife transfixing her chest, convulses just once.

Shiki casually throws the corpse over the tall fence, into the depths of the dark city.

The woman tumbles past the bounds of the rooftop and falls without a sound. Her dark, silken hair does not flutter, even during the fall, and fades into the night as her white robes are lost to the wind.

''Like a white flower sinking deep into the ocean.''

Shiki leaves the rooftop.

Above, the floating girls still remain...

Kara no Kyoukai:Chapter01 01

2008-05-23T08:23:54Z

24.14.209.26: removed language about Shiki's gender which somehow got in there. Shiki's gender is not revealed untill end of chapter.

／1

On a night at the beginning of August, Mikiya came by without any notice.

"Good evening. You look lazy as always, Shiki"

The sudden visitor stood by the door as he gives a boring greeting with a smile.

"I just saw an accident on my way here. A girl jumped from the top of a building, a suicide. I heard it's happening a lot quite recently but I never thought I'd see one myself. Here, fridge."

He throws me a plastic bag from a convenience store as he unties his shoes by the door. Inside are two strawberry [http://www.haagen-dazs.com Häagen-Dazs]. I guess he means I should put them in the fridge before they melt.

While I was slowly checking out what's inside the bag, Mikiya has taken off his shoes and has already come inside.

My house is a room in a mansion. If you go past the hallway, which isn't even a meter long, you get to the room where it's both my bedroom and my living room. I glare as I follow Mikiya, who is quickly making his way to my room.

"Shiki. You skipped school again today, right? I don't care about your grades, but you won't be able to pass unless you attend at least the required days. Did you forget about our promise to go to college together?"

"Do you have the right to order me around about my school? First of all, I don't remember that kind of promise, and you've already dropped out of college."

I glare at Mikiya while I say so. He looks downcast while trying to come up with words.

"... Uh, if you say 'rights', there aren't any rights for anybody, but..."

Sounding sophisticated, Mikiya sits down.

He tends to let out his true feelings when he's on the defense... it's something I remembered just recently.

Mikiya sat down in the middle of the room. As I sat down on the bed behind him, I laid my body across it. Mikiya still has his back turned to me. I thoughtlessly look at Mikiya's back, which is a bit small for a guy's.

This man named Kokuto Mikiya seems to be my friend from back in high school.

In the fast age full of youngsters where many things get famous and then go away quickly, Mikiya was a rare kind of person that kept the image of a student.

He doesn't dye his hair or let it grow long. He doesn't get a tan or wear accessories. He doesn't carry a cell phone or play around with women. He is around 170cm or so. His kind-looking face is more on the cute side and his huge black glasses make that feature stand out even more.

Even though he is dressed normally and he is out of school, he might look good enough to catch a few people's eyes if he actually dressed himself up.

"Shiki, are you listening? I saw your mother too. You should go visit the Ryougi House at least once. I heard that you haven't even contacted them since you got out of the hospital two months ago."

"... I don't care. It can't be helped cause I can't really take in the fact. We'll just feel more distant even if we see each other. I still feel weird talking to you, so there'll be no way I'll be able to keep up a conversation with those strangers."

"Geez, things won't get any better if you keep acting like that. You'll be like this forever if you don't open up your heart to them. It's not right for a family to live so close together and yet never talk to each other."

I frown at those words.

He says "not right", but what exactly is "not right"? There's nothing illegal in what's happening between me and my parents. It's just that the child has gotten in an accident and lost all memories. We are proven to be a family under the law and by papers, so I'd assume there's nothing wrong in between us.

... Mikiya always worries about how other people feel. Although I think that is just pointless...

***

Ryougi Shiki has been my friend since high school.

Our school was a famous private high school which taught a lot of students who went to a good college.

When I went to see if I got in the school or not, the name Ryougi Shiki stood out so much that it stuck in my head and we ended up being in the same class. Since then, I became one of the few friends Shiki had.

Our school did not have uniforms so everyone expressed themselves by how they dressed. Within these people, Shiki stood out.

... Because Shiki would always be wearing a kimono.

Its simple form fit Shiki's shoulders and it made the classroom feel like an old-style house just by having Shiki walk through it. Some of the students had rocker-style outfits, but in front of Shiki, such an outfit had less value to it than the first edition of the magazine "STYLE". I think just this explains what kind of a person Shiki is.

Shiki's face was also too perfect.

The hair is beautiful, like silk; and is cut with scissors lazily and kept like that. However it becomes the perfect short hair that is long enough to hide Shiki's ears, which suits Shiki so much that many people mistake Shiki's sex. Shiki looks so handsome that when a man looks, he sees a woman, and when a woman looks, she sees a man. Shiki looks more valiant than beautiful.

But much more than Shiki's looks, what captivated me the most were Shiki's eyes. They were sharp yet delicate with thin brows. It felt like Shiki was seeing what we were unable to see with those eyes, and that is everything Shiki meant to me.

Yes.

Until Shiki ended up like that...

***

"Suicide by jumping off something. Would that be considered an accident, Mikiya?"

Mikiya gets himself together after that meaningless rant and seriously starts thinking about the question.

"Hmmm, I'm sure it's an accident... but you're right. I wonder what that is. Since it's a suicide, the person is dead. But as long as it is that person's will to do so, the blame is only on that person. But since falling from a high place is an accident..."

"It's not a murder or an accidental death? That's ambiguous. They should have picked a way that wouldn't trouble others if they were going to kill themselves."

It seems my words angered Mikiya a bit as he takes a glance behind him, towards me.

"Shiki, it's not nice to talk badly about dead people."

His voice is not to scold me, but it is said in a plain tone. I saw that response coming a mile away.

"Kokuto, I hate your common sense talk."

Naturally, my response gets a bit harsh. But it doesn't seem like he cares at all.

"Wow, its been a long time since you called me that."

"Really?"

Mikiya nods.

I call him two things: Kokuto and Mikiya. I didn't like the sound of "Kokuto"... although I don't exactly know why.

In the small silence that formed during my pondering, Mikiya clapped his hand as if he remembered something.

"Oh, speaking of rare things, my sister Azaka saw it."

Not understanding what he's talking about, I make a frowning face.

"That thing. The girl at the Fujiyoh building, the one they say is flying around. You said you saw it once too."

Oh, I remember now.

From around three weeks ago, in the sky above an expensive mansion in the office district, a human-like form could be seen. The fact that Azaka saw it too must mean it really does exist.

After I was in a coma for two years after that accident, I was able to see things that were "not supposed to be there". As Touko would put it, I am not seeing them, but rather observing them. In other words, it seems that I am able to perceive at a higher level with my eyes and brain, but I don't care about all the explanations.

"The thing at the Fujiyou building, I saw that thing a few times. But I haven't been around there for a while, so I don't know if it's still there."

"I see. I go by there a lot but I never saw it."

"You can't see it 'cause you're wearing glasses."

"I don't think glasses matter," frowns Mikiya.

His reaction was so warm and pure. That's probably why it's harder for him to see those kinds of things.

But boring incidents keep on happening like people falling and flying. I don't understand the meaning behind all that, so I question out loud.

"Mikiya, do you know why people fly?"

Mikiya shrugs at my unexpected question and answers in a normal tone.

"I don't know why they fly or fall, because I've never done such things before."