https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Zwei7 2026-05-04T19:37:22Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.43.1 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_04&diff=67785 2010-06-19T16:06:43Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/4 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> That day, I was at the back alley where I first met Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even in these daylight hours there's no one about, and not even the myriad noises of the streets can be heard. Exhaling clouds of vapor into the cold air ('''!&lt;!-- TN: Does English have a phrase for this? You know, the white fog you get when its a cold morning | yup. they do! :) - oni --&gt;'''), I was standing in that place from which the bloodstains of that time had neatly disappeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> October's drawing to an end too. It's approaching one month since I ran away casting aside home, work, and everything else in my life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However there's no sign that the police are looking for me. Not only that but on the TV news that I diligently go to check everyday at the mall, nothing about the murder I had committed was being said. I've been reading newspapers too whenever I felt like it, but as expected no such story appeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That affair, it's in a whole different dimension from the street homicides going on right now. There's no doubt that it's the sort of thing that the TV audiences would lap up. So there's no way it would have been handled as a simple accident.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Impossible --- Could it be that they haven't discovered it yet?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hearing my mumbling voice, I want to throw up the contents of my stomach.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's not as if it matters what happens to people like that but --- just thinking about what those bodies would look like after they had been left there for a month wraps me up in gloom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Should I go take a look --- no, that's not possible. I don't have the courage to do so, and there could be police watching the scene.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In any case all I can do is keep a watch on the situation from outside like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Just once.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Just once is fine so if it was reported on TV as a crime, I could harden my mind and disappear from Ryougi's life. If Enjoh Tomoe becomes known to the world as a murderer it would be an inconvenience to Ryougi --- and I could leave this street with no regrets.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Damn it, what is up with that. You bastard called me---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Does that mean I can't leave Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The wind's picked up. I came walking out of the back alley as if I was being chased by the cold north wind. I was walking through the downtown area when I saw Ryougi at a far-off pedestrian crossing. A red jacket over a kimono - it couldn't be anyone but her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking at that figure from far away --- I spotted a familiar face.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's a guy from that night Ryougi and I first met, one of the ones who were the cause of that meeting. With practiced footsteps he's acting natural while he follows Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Click, clickclick, click.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Hey, that's dangerous.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Mixing into the crowd I stalk the guy stalking Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After stalking Ryougi for a long time the guy goes off somewhere. Shortly afterward, another guy from that time replaced him and continued to stalk Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It seems that they don't actually plan to do anything to Ryougi but simply stalk her. Even so --- for them their movements are too faultless and well-organized to be not suspicious.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I kept watch them for an hour, and then decided that I needed to know where the one that had trailed off had gone. Fortunately the one that fainted after eating Ryougi's high kick finishes his shadowing and starts to head back.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I hurried after him he -------- went into the alleyway that I had been in till just a little before.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- It's a trap.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's not for me to know what this is all for. But... this whole thing definitely has an ominous feeling to it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stopping at the entrance of that string-like path leading into the back alley, I looked inwards. Wouldn't it be possible to find out what they were doing from here?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking carefully, I see someone standing there.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's a wine-red long coat.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That slim-figured shadow, is it a guy? His long hair is the color of gold, and even when I'm looking from a distance I can tell his is an annoying face that looks as if its owner is looking down on someone ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But --- who is that guy?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;□ □ □ □ □ □ ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A fluent intonation flows past my ears.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Surprised, I look back, but no one is there.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I quickly turned back around to look at the alley, the man in the coat had disappeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A cold north wind blows through the street.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Brrrr, my body's shivering.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hugging my body, which is still shaking oblivious to Enjou Tomoe's will,&lt;br&gt;<br /> Resisting an urge to cry for no reason with all my might.&lt;br&gt;<br /> I was feeling the end of autumn and the end of my existence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Night fell, and I told Ryougi about the fact that she was being stalked. That the creeps from that night were actively keeping watch on her. ('''!&lt;!-- TN: For some reason my copy said 'keeping watch on you' but I guessed it was a typo, don't agree? Change it then --&gt;''') &lt;br&gt; <br /> <br /> But Ryougi's reply was brief as usual.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh, really?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;So?&quot;, she asks, with her flawlessly clear eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even I lost my grip on reason this time around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's not something you go 'so?' to! It's not just those jerks watching you! Do you have any memories of a foreigner wearing a red coat?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I don't have any delightful friends like that.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That was it for Ryougi, and she didn't respond to this story any longer.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> What happened was that she lost interest. No matter what effect an incident will have on Ryougi Shiki, if Ryougi Shiki herself thinks it's unimportant, this brat will ignore it. Even if she was to be disgraced and treated like a murderer, she probably wouldn't care. Since what's important isn't what the world thinks, but how she feels.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Yeah, I was expecting her to be like that too, and I thought that Ryougi, for whom that was natural, was proudly lonely; but this time, at least, is an exception.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those creeps --- no, that guy is real.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Me and those jerks are either fake, or have no possibility of being imitations. Unlike us, Ryougi has pure impulses.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Listen to me! This isn't somebody else's business. It involves none other than yourself! At least spare some thought for my worried mind!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My shouting may have annoyed her, as the kimono girl nimbly turned the gabuza ('''!&lt;!-- TN: again... what is this thing? --&gt;''') on the bed around and looked up at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that time, I think I was wearing a very serious face.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It isn't even because Ryougi is so preposterously unworried. The reason is a bit simpler. That is ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Mm, it definitely is my business and not someone else's. But why are you worrying about my problem, Enjou?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Well, that's ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Idiot, of course I'm worried. I don't want you to die. Because --- I've fallen for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The taut air suddenly freezes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... I said it. I, who must leave soon, said what must not be said.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those words --- above everything else for myself, they were something that should not have been said.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's looking at me as if she's seeing something strange.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A few seconds pass and the kimono girl bursts into laughter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hahaha, what are you saying, Enjoh?! You've fallen for me? Did that guy in the red coat hypnotize you or something? Try going through your memory, there will definitely be a weird noise mixed up in there!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi --- Shiki... laughs it off and will not face me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I don't know what proof she may have, but she definitely concluded that it couldn't be real.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As for me, obviously --- I can't accept that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's not like that! I'm being sincere. Seeing you, for the first time I felt that a human was beautiful, and I thought I had finally found someone like me. You are real. If it's for you, I can do anything ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Grabbing Ryougi's shoulders, I glare at Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi stopped laughing and turned around to look at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmm, is that so?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A dry tone.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's hand grabs my sleeve. All of a sudden, I spin lightly around as if I had become a piece of paper, and end up lying flat on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is on top of me, holding a knife ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Then, can you die for me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The knife blade touches my neck.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The light in Ryougi's eyes doesn't change much.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stabbing down the knife as usual, she will flippantly kill me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi isn't asking if I can die doing something for her. She's saying, I'm going to kill you for my enjoyment. That's what the question means.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- This girl can't feel affection except through something like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Dying is scary. Even now, I'm so scared that I can't even tremble. But... this life of mine won't be long. Having killed someone, I'm bound to be caught by the police and never be able to return to this place again. In that case ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All right. I'll die for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I said it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's eyes, they regain a humane light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Do as you like, I haven't got long left anyway. Since I killed my parents. It will probably be an execution. If that's the case --- I think dying by your hand is better than the gallows.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You killed your parents?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With her knife pressed against my throat, Ryougi asks me again. I decided then to reveal the memories I had hidden, and tell the story just before I died. That was probably because I wanted to at least pretend to be at a confession at least once before I died.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Yeah. I killed my parents. Because they were bad parents, they borrowed money behind my back and went around having fun. I couldn't handle cleaning up their mess so, time after time --- so that I wouldn't screw up and have it end at attempted murder --- I wildly stabbed them in the gut with a kitchen knife. Our house doesn't even have heating. That night was cold too, right? My breath was steaming white, but a human's intestines were warm. Steam coming from a human's stomach, that was a sight that you might see once in your life!&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Heh heh, rats --- everything was paralyzed and I became an idiot. I hadn't put the knife down, and my hands kept digging into those guts. Eventually, it got to the stage where you couldn't tell whether I had stabbed them to kill them or to dig into their guts, and you could no longer tell that those things had once been human.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Shall I cry? I thought that, but the tears wouldn't come.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Instead, I felt strangely refreshed. By the fact that I had killed those awful parents and was really free.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Tomoe. You... why did you kill them?&quot; asks the girl in front of my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I think. Why did I kill them? Did I hate them? Or were they annoying? No, it wasn't such a clean emotion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that case, was I --- afraid?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I... was afraid. I had --- a dream.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I come home from work and go to bed. Shortly afterward, I hear my mom and dad arguing in the room beside mine, and the door opens. My father's covered in blood and my mother is standing there. Just like that, she stabs me to death, then cuts her own throat and dies.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I thought, I'm going to die like this, but it wasn't like that. When I woke up in the morning, no such thing had happened. I must have had dreams like that because I definitely wanted to kill my parents but couldn't. Also --- I had that dream every day. Every, single, day, that dream repeated itself. I call it a dream, but every day? I couldn't stand it anymore. I... was more afraid of the night, when I got murdered. I didn't want to have dreams like that anymore. So --- all that happened was that I killed them before I was murdered, in order that I might never have a dream like that again.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah, that night. My mother, who opened the door because she had something to talk about, I stabbed her over and over again with the knife I had hidden. In my dreams, I lost count of the number of times I had been killed. I tried my hardest to kill her, as if I was pouring out all the frustration that had been building up inside of me until now.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I'm free. There's no reason for me to be chained down by such awful parents, or such unpleasant dreams.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Damn it, what a befouled freedom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- You are an idiot.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi speaks solemnly. Her cold tone conversely makes me feel refreshed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It really did. I'm stupid, so I couldn't think of any other way to run away, but I don't regret it. Even if I'm bound to be caught by the police, I will still feel better that I did in those nightmare-filled days.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... But, one little thing. It's something I realized as I told my story.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Until now, I've lived thinking that only I was important. Even supposing such a person was serious, to say that they've fallen for someone isn't something they could do. ... They don't have the right to do that. It's natural that Ryougi would just laugh it off. Still ... the fact that I want to protect this girl at least is real. It's the only real thing to this false me. But in the hands of a dirty murderer like me, even that thought becomes polluted. --- If I had any regrets, that is what I regret most right now.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The moment I understood that. The fever that had been driving me towards a violent outburst rapidly cooled off, like an old TV that has been replaced and thrown out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Still ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I... don't regret that murder.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Tomoe is saying in my head that the murder was not something he should have done.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is looking at me with a far-off look in her eyes. An unblinking stare, as if it's piercing the heart of Enjoh Tomoe's being.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- A drastic error. Enduring was your forte, but in the end, you chose the painful path. When we first met, you weren't you. Having lost your future, did the empty you want to die like just before?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The girl who tried to kill me for a change of mood ('''!&lt;!--TN: bad phrase here but I couldn't think of anything that fit --&gt;)'''.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ... The girl who I thought I would be happy to be killed by.&lt;br&gt;<br /> The two throw the question at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Let's see.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That night, I was handling myself recklessly. I thought it perfectly fine to beat someone to death, and on the other hand, I thought it would be perfectly fine to be beaten to death. But... I didn't want to die. At the time, yeah... simply living had become exhausting. I hated myself, a fake living without any goals in life. This self of mine that thought it wanted to die but couldn't even kill itself was so loathsome that I couldn't take it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even now, when I've confessed all my sins to Ryougi like this, I don't want to die. --- But nevertheless, humans will ultimately die. For me it will just be a little quicker, a little shabbier, and less meaningful than another person's.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Is that it? That's probably what I couldn't stand.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A worthless, stale death.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If I'm going to die like that, I would rather ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- dying for you, it seems much more real so I prefer it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No thanks. A life like yours, I don't need it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The knife drops.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Like a cat that's lost interest in its prey, Ryougi distances herself from me. Is she going out somewhere? Ryougi picks up her leather jacket and prepares to go out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can only watch her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Enjou. Where's your house?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's voice is cold like the time when I first met her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... My family went from rent to rent. We were chased around either because after half a year we wouldn't be able to pay the rent, or the harassment of the debt collectors would be too much to take. I hated that --- I hated it from when I was young, so I envied a normal household.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What are you going to do with the answer? It's number 405 in some mansion.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I'm not talking about that. I mean the home you want to return to. If you don't know, that's that.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi opens the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As she went out, the girl spoke without even looking back.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Well, I'm going. If you feel like it you can use this place again.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi disappears.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Finding myself left behind alone, this place seemed to become so bleak that it looked like the only colors were white and black.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> While I looked at the room that had become totally black and white, the room where I had stayed for a month with my rusty mind, I decided to leave.&lt;br&gt;</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_04&diff=67784 2010-06-19T15:54:00Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/4 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> That day, I was at the back alley where I first met Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even in these daylight hours there's no one about, and not even the myriad noises of the streets can be heard. Exhaling clouds of vapor into the cold air ('''!&lt;!-- TN: Does English have a phrase for this? You know, the white fog you get when its a cold morning | yup. they do! :) - oni --&gt;'''), I was standing in that place from which the bloodstains of that time had neatly disappeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> October's drawing to an end too. It's approaching one month since I ran away casting aside home, work, and everything else in my life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However there's no sign that the police are looking for me. Not only that but on the TV news that I diligently go to check everyday at the mall, nothing about the murder I had committed was being said. I've been reading newspapers too whenever I felt like it, but as expected no such story appeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That affair, it's in a whole different dimension from the street homicides going on right now. There's no doubt that it's the sort of thing that the TV audiences would lap up. So there's no way it would have been handled as a simple accident.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Impossible --- Could it be that they haven't discovered it yet?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hearing my mumbling voice, I want to throw up the contents of my stomach.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's not as if it matters what happens to people like that but --- just thinking about what those bodies would look like after they had been left there for a month wraps me up in gloom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Should I go take a look --- no, that's not possible. I don't have the courage to do so, and there could be police watching the scene.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In any case all I can do is keep a watch on the situation from outside like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Just once.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Just once is fine so if it was reported on TV as a crime, I could harden my mind and disappear from Ryougi's life. If Enjoh Tomoe becomes known to the world as a murderer it would be an inconvenience to Ryougi --- and I could leave this street with no regrets.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Damn it, what is up with that. You bastard called me---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Does that mean I can't leave Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The wind's picked up. I came walking out of the back alley as if I was being chased by the cold north wind. I was walking through the downtown area when I saw Ryougi at a far-off pedestrian crossing. A red jacket over a kimono - it couldn't be anyone but her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking at that figure from far away --- I spotted a familiar face.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's a guy from that night Ryougi and I first met, one of the ones who were the cause of that meeting. With practiced footsteps he's acting natural while he follows Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Click, clickclick, click.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Hey, that's dangerous.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Mixing into the crowd I stalk the guy stalking Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After stalking Ryougi for a long time the guy goes off somewhere. Shortly afterward, another guy from that time replaced him and continued to stalk Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It seems that they don't actually plan to do anything to Ryougi but simply stalk her. Even so --- for them their movements are too faultless and well-organized to be not suspicious.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I kept watch them for an hour, and then decided that I needed to know where the one that had trailed off had gone. Fortunately the one that fainted after eating Ryougi's high kick finishes his shadowing and starts to head back.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I hurried after him he -------- went into the alleyway that I had been in till just a little before.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- It's a trap.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's not for me to know what this is all for. But... this whole thing definitely has an ominous feeling to it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stopping at the entrance of that string-like path leading into the back alley, I looked inwards. Wouldn't it be possible to find out what they were doing from here?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking carefully, I see someone standing there.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's a wine-red long coat.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That slim-figured shadow, is it a guy? His long hair is the color of gold, and even when I'm looking from a distance I can tell his is an annoying face that looks as if its owner is looking down on someone ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But --- who is that guy?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;□ □ □ □ □ □ ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A fluent intonation flows past my ears.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Surprised, I look back, but no one is there.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I quickly turned back around to look at the alley, the man in the coat had disappeared.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A cold north wind blows through the street.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Brrrr, my body's shivering.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hugging my body, which is still shaking oblivious to Enjou Tomoe's will,&lt;br&gt;<br /> Resisting an urge to cry for no reason with all my might.&lt;br&gt;<br /> I was feeling the end of autumn and the end of my existence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Night fell, and I told Ryougi about the fact that she was being stalked. That the creeps from that night were actively keeping watch on her. ('''!&lt;!-- TN: For some reason my copy said 'keeping watch on you' but I guessed it was a typo, don't agree? Change it then --&gt;''') &lt;br&gt; <br /> <br /> But Ryougi's reply was brief as usual.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh, really?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;So?&quot;, she asks, with her flawlessly clear eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even I lost my grip on reason this time around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's not something you go 'so?' to! It's not just those jerks watching you! Do you have any memories of a foreigner wearing a red coat?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I don't have any delightful friends like that.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That was it for Ryougi, and she didn't respond to this story any longer.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> What happened was that she lost interest. No matter what effect an incident will have on Ryougi Shiki, if Ryougi Shiki herself thinks it's unimportant, this brat will ignore it. Even if she was to be disgraced and treated like a murderer, she probably wouldn't care. Since what's important isn't what the world thinks, but how she feels.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Yeah, I was expecting her to be like that too, and I thought that Ryougi, for whom that was natural, was proudly lonely; but this time, at least, is an exception.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those creeps --- no, that guy is real.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Me and those jerks are either fake, or have no possibility of being imitations. Unlike us, Ryougi has pure impulses.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Listen to me! This isn't somebody else's business. It involves none other than yourself! At least spare some thought for my worried mind!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My shouting may have annoyed her, as the kimono girl nimbly turned the gabuza ('''!&lt;!-- TN: again... what is this thing? --&gt;''') on the bed around and looked up at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that time, I think I was wearing a very serious face.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It isn't even because Ryougi is so preposterously unworried. The reason is a bit simpler. That is ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Mm, it definitely is my business and not someone else's. But why are you worrying about my problem, Enjou?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Well, that's ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Idiot, of course I'm worried. I don't want you to die. Because --- I've fallen for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The taut air suddenly freezes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... I said it. I, who must leave soon, said what must not be said.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those words --- above everything else for myself, they were something that should not have been said.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's looking at me as if she's seeing something strange.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A few seconds pass and the kimono girl bursts into laughter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hahaha, what are you saying, Enjoh?! You've fallen for me? Did that guy in the red coat hypnotize you or something? Try going through your memory, there will definitely be a weird noise mixed up in there!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi --- Shiki... laughs it off and will not face me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I don't know what proof she may have, but she definitely concluded that it couldn't be real.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As for me, obviously --- I can't accept that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's not like that! I'm being sincere. Seeing you, for the first time I felt that a human was beautiful, and I thought I had finally found someone like me. You are real. If it's for you, I can do anything ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Grabbing Ryougi's shoulders, I glare at Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi stopped laughing and turned around to look at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmm, is that so?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A dry tone.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's hand grabs my sleeve. All of a sudden, I spin lightly around as if I had become a piece of paper, and end up lying flat on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is on top of me, holding a knife ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Then, can you die for me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The knife blade touches my neck.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The light in Ryougi's eyes doesn't change much.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stabbing down the knife as usual, she will flippantly kill me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi isn't asking if I can die doing something for her. She's saying, I'm going to kill you for my enjoyment. That's what the question means.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- This girl can't feel affection except through something like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Dying is scary. Even now, I'm so scared that I can't even tremble. But... this life of mine won't be long. Having killed someone, I'm bound to be caught by the police and never be able to return to this place again. In that case ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All right. I'll die for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I said it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's eyes, they regain a humane light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Do as you like, I haven't got long left anyway. Since I killed my parents. It will probably be an execution. If that's the case --- I think dying by your hand is better than the gallows.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You killed your parents?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With her knife pressed against my throat, Ryougi asks me again. I decided then to reveal the memories I had hidden, and tell the story just before I died. That was probably because I wanted to at least pretend to be at a confession at least once before I died.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Yeah. I killed my parents. Because they were bad parents, they borrowed money behind my back and went around having fun. I couldn't handle cleaning up their mess so, time after time --- so that I wouldn't screw up and have it end at attempted murder --- I wildly stabbed them in the gut with a kitchen knife. Our house doesn't even have heating. That night was cold too, right? My breath was steaming white, but a human's intestines were warm. Steam coming from a human's stomach, that was a sight that you might see once in your life!&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Heh heh, rats --- everything was paralyzed and I became an idiot. I hadn't put the knife down, and my hands kept digging into those guts. Eventually, it got to the stage where you couldn't tell whether I had stabbed them to kill them or to dig into their guts, and you could no longer tell that those things had once been human.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Shall I cry? I thought that, but the tears wouldn't come.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Instead, I felt strangely refreshed. By the fact that I had killed those awful parents and was really free.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Tomoe. You... why did you kill them?&quot; asks the girl in front of my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I think. Why did I kill them? Did I hate them? Or were they annoying? No, it wasn't such a clean emotion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that case, was I --- afraid?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I... was afraid. I had --- a dream.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I come home from work and go to bed. Shortly afterward, I hear my mom and dad arguing in the room beside mine, and the door opens. My father's covered in blood and my mother is standing there. Just like that, she stabs me to death, then cuts her own throat and dies.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I thought, I'm going to die like this, but it wasn't like that. When I woke up in the morning, no such thing had happened. I must have had dreams like that because I definitely wanted to kill my parents but couldn't. Also --- I had that dream every day. Every, single, day, that dream repeated itself. I call it a dream, but every day? I couldn't stand it anymore. I... was more afraid of the night, when I got murdered. I didn't want to have dreams like that anymore. So --- all that happened was that I killed them before I was murdered, in order that I might never have a dream like that again.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah, that night. My mother, who opened the door because she had something to talk about, I stabbed her over and over again with the knife I had hidden. In my dreams, I lost count of the number of times I had been killed. I tried my hardest to kill her, as if I was pouring out all the frustration that had been building up inside of me until now.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I'm free. There's no reason for me to be chained down by such awful parents, or such unpleasant dreams.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Damn it, what a befouled freedom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- You are an idiot.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi speaks solemnly. Her cold tone conversely makes me feel refreshed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It really did. I'm stupid, so I couldn't think of any other way to run away, but I don't regret it. Even if I'm bound to be caught by the police, I will still feel better that I did in those nightmare-filled days.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... But, one little thing. It's something I realized as I told my story.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Until now, I've lived thinking that only I was important. Even supposing such a person was serious, to say that they've fallen for someone isn't something they could do. ... They don't have the right to do that. It's natural that Ryougi would just laugh it off. Still ... the fact that I want to protect this girl at least is real. It's the only real thing to this false me. But in the hands of a dirty murderer like me, even that thought becomes polluted. --- If I had any regrets, that is what I regret most right now.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The moment I understood that. The fever that had been driving me towards a violent outburst rapidly cooled off, like an old TV that has been replaced and thrown out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Still ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I... don't regret that murder.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Tomoe is saying in my head that the murder was not something he should have done.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is looking at me with a far-off look in her eyes. An unblinking stare, as if it's piercing the heart of Enjoh Tomoe's being.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- A drastic error. Enduring was your forte, but in the end, you chose the painful path. When we first met, you weren't you. Having lost your future, did the empty you want to die like just before?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The girl who tried to kill me for a change of mood ('''!&lt;!--TN: bad phrase here but I couldn't think of anything that fit --&gt;)'''.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ... The girl who I thought I would be happy to be killed by.&lt;br&gt;<br /> The two throw the question at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Let's see.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That night, I was handling myself recklessly. I thought it perfectly fine to beat someone to death, and on the other hand, I thought it would be perfectly fine to be beaten to death. But... I didn't want to die. At the time, yeah... it was simply that living had become exhausting. I hated myself, a fake living without any goals in life. This self of mine that thought it wanted to die but couldn't even kill itself was so loathsome that I couldn't take it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even now, when I've confessed all my sins to Ryougi like this, I don't want to die. --- But nevertheless, humans will ultimately die. For me it will just be a little quicker, a little shabbier, and less meaningful than another person's.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Is that it? That's probably what I couldn't stand.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A worthless, stale death.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If I'm going to die like that, I would rather ---&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- dying for you, it seems much more real so I prefer it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No thanks. A life like yours, I don't need it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The knife drops.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Like a cat that's lost interest in its prey, Ryougi distances herself from me. Is she going out somewhere? Ryougi picks up her leather jacket and prepares to go out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can only watch her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Enjou. Where's your house?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's voice is cold like the time when I first met her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... My family went from rent to rent. We were chased around either because after half a year we wouldn't be able to pay the rent, or the harassment of the debt collectors would be too much to take. I hated that --- I hated it from when I was young, so I envied a normal household.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What are you going to do with the answer? It's number 405 in some mansion.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I'm not talking about that. I mean the home you want to return to. If you don't know, that's that.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi opens the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As she went out, the girl spoke without even looking back.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Well, I'm going. If you feel like it you can use this place again.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi disappears.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Finding myself left behind alone, this place seemed to become so bleak that it looked like the only colors were white and black.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> While I looked at the room that had become totally black and white, the room where I had stayed for a month with my rusty mind, I decided to leave.&lt;br&gt;</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_03&diff=67095 2010-06-05T18:36:59Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/3 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Close to a week has passed since I started staying in Ryougi's room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With both me and Ryougi going out during the day, a strange state of affairs continues where we only see each other when we go to sleep at night. Even so it was inconvenient not knowing each other's names after a week or so had passed, so we told each other our names.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Her name is Ryougi Shiki. Surprisingly enough she really is a high school student. I don't know anything more than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi calls me Enjou. Maybe because of that, I call Ryougi Shiki by the name of Ryougi. Ryougi herself dislikes being called by her family name, but I can't bring myself to call her Shiki.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. Quite simply, I don't have that strong a resolve. I don't want to become friendlier than necessary with someone I will one day part from forever. If I come to call her Shiki, it will definitely become more difficult to leave this girl. I thought that such a relationship would only be a hindrance to someone like me, who might be caught at any time by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Enjou, don't you have a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On a night no different from any other, sitting on the bed with the gabuza ('''!&lt;!-- TN: What the hell is this?--&gt;''') on, Ryougi threw an unexpected question at me without any warning.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's questions, they always begin abruptly like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;A girl... Well, if I had one I wouldn't come rolling into a place like this.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh. You look like you would be popular.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hearing such an empty compliment doesn't make me happy at all. I'm sick of girls anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Oho, how come?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi must have felt some interest in the story as she pushed her head out towards me rolling around on the floor. From my position lying right beside the bed it looks like only the head is popping out and it's somehow cute.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you gay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What I said before, forget it. That this brat could be cute, I must have briefly been out of mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no particular reason. To put it simply, it was just annoying. I tried dating for real, and it wasn't very fun.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I never really liked those of the opposite sex. There was a time in high school when I went out with a girl for 3 months, but that isn't a sweet memory and I think all we did was fight a lot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Before I knew it I was haltingly telling her about my recollections.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It wasn't that I wanted very much. But she wanted too much from me. At first I thought 'well I guess that's how it goes' and I put up with it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah. I bought her anything she wanted and if she wanted to be fancy I paid for it. Probably, there wasn't an instance when I couldn't meet her high expectations.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She was happy every time, but on the other hand I was cooling off towards her. Sex wasn't as great as everyone thought either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It felt like Ryougi was listening properly to my soliloquy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;After a while I started getting sick of her. It's not just the surrounding environment. Time, money, even emotions, it felt like a waste to give them to her. I did kind of like her, but satisfying your sexual appetite is something you can do alone ('''!&lt;!--Okay... I'll remove this later but WTF?--&gt;''')&lt;br&gt;<br /> --- If I was a normal student, I would have had too much time on my hands. But I didn't have any free time. The more time I spent with her the less sleep I got. For someone like me, without even a minute to spare, something like a girlfriend was an impossibility from the start.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However I didn't try to break up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She looked happy, and I didn't want to put her in tears by issuing an absolute statement like 'let's break up'. ... I didn't want to inflict any wounds, and I didn't like receiving a wound either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But you still broke up. How did you dump her?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You know, you should stop treating me like the bad guy. I was the one that got dumped. She told me suddenly after we did everything to do at a hotel. That 'you never looked at me. You just looked at my body and never saw my mind'. Honestly, saying it was a bit of a shock.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As I told the story's conclusion with a shrug, Ryougi rudely burst into laughter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Amazing, you don't look at my mind! Haha, you got caught by some fussy woman, didn't ya Enjou!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The springs in the bed creak in protest. This brat, she's rolling around on top of the bed laughing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, was there something strange about my story? It's my bitter memories of youth you know.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I get angry and bolt upright. Ryougi then stopped laughing and stared at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's weird. The only thing humans can see is the outward appearance. But that girl said that you only looked at the body that she thought was insignificant, to say that you don't like someone because they can't see something invisible like the mind, that kind of girl isn't normal. Not being normal means you are abnormal. See, it's funny. That girl, if she wanted you to see her mind she could have written a letter. Enjoh, you did well to break up with that girl.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Coldly making fun of me, Ryougi lay back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Like a cat she stared at me blankly from that position, then Ryougi opened her mouth as if it was difficult for her to say what followed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Well, it's not something for me to say, but. If you speak out loud about an uneasiness that 'cannot be seen' it becomes a lie. I can't know myself but love is believing in something. The blindness of love, isn't that its meaning?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's something I heard from someone else though, Ryougi added and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ending the conversation as usual in an abrupt manner like splitting bamboo, I also went to bed with a troubled mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Turning off the light, I thought as I fell into sleep. I'm a complete dunderhead when it comes to those people that I have feelings for called 'women' but, I think that if it was this girl, there wouldn't be any such unilateral demands. No, if it was Ryougi, wouldn't I be able to take even such annoying things with a smile on my face?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> A night of the second week.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I opened the door with my key and went inside Ryougi was already asleep. ... As if she thinks of me as some sort of cat she doesn't show any signs of waking up even when she hears me rambling around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But today that's fortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hiding my pummeled cheek, I plonk myself down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The bedside clock goes around. Both the hands are pointing to the 12.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... For some reason, I hate clock faces. Digital displays are my preference. A feeling comes to me that there's no place for me inside the spinning clock and I get afraid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ow.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My bruised leg suddenly throbbed with pain and I screamed before I could stop myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is sleeping like the dead. There's no signs that she will wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That profile of her face, I unthinkingly stared at it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- In the two weeks that we've lived together, I've come to know only one thing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl, really is a doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She's always asleep on the bed like a corpse. This girl doesn't wake up in the morning; instead she is resurrected from death to life when she has something to do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I thought it was to go to school, but I don't think that's the reason. Because whenever she receives a phone call from somewhere, Ryougi regains her vitality.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It goes without saying that I sense that the subject matter of those calls is suspicious.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However, Ryougi is waiting for that. In its absence, this girl remains here like some doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That image was too beautiful. There was nothing as inconsequential as sadness. Ryougi delights only in the things she must do and comes back to life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This is perfection without fault. For the first time, I met the 'genuine item' that I had concluded I would never see. That which I had believed was like that. That which I wanted to be. That pure strength, which took no notice of what others did as long as you had yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Shiki.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> From my mouth, Ryougi's name leaked out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Quieter than a whisper, an utterance that was like an expelled breath.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But Ryougi's eyes snapped wide open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the, you're bruised all over again?&quot;<br /> <br /> As soon as she opened her eyes, Ryougi wrinkled her brow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I couldn't help it. The other side kept provoking me for no reason.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tell it as it was. While coming back today, I got tangled up with two people I didn't know and we beat each other up. Of course I laid them out, but I'm also unskilled at fighting and get a lot of wounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You did something, didn't you? To be so weak even with that. Do you like being hit?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi says as she sits up on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> You did something, does that mean something like martial arts or judo?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't draw any unquantified conclusions. I don't know anything about martial arts. Although if it's just fighting, I can do it as well as the next guy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh? I definitely thought you would, since you used your palm when fighting. --- Then how did you know to use the palm of your hand?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I should have guessed. Now that I think about it I was once congratulated about that. When hitting someone, a person who hasn't trained his fist will just hurt his hand, and after a few hits their own bones get damaged. So it's better for half-baked amateurs like me to use our palms to hit with. No, there are martial arts where the palm is more effective instead.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course, I don't know anything like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your palm is harder. Doesn't everyone use their palms to crush cans? There probably aren't many who would do it with their fists.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's because it's easier with the palm of you hand.&quot;<br /> <br /> Although Ryougi replied coldly, it seemed like she was admiring me in truth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She cautiously looks at my face. Getting embarrassed by her scrutiny, I struggled and kept talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;So what did you do some of, Ryougi? Aikido?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Aikido is just for fun. There's only one thing I've done since I was young.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Since you were young, eh. I thought you were strong. It was you who let loose a high kick at the back of a fleeing opponent's head. I thought how you acted was different. It was because of that. So do you have anything like a finishing move?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I ask the lamest questions. But Ryougi goes mmm, and falls into serious thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I suppose I have something along those lines. I train with taking down everything using that as my premise, so if you call it a finishing move, it is one. But we aren't of that school. And it's originally a self-created style as well.&quot;(This part could be reworked).<br /> <br /> The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts and while you are fighting is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In response to this dialogue that seemed to scorn oneself, I couldn't do anything but cock my head.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, if you are strong then that's that. There wont be any instances where you go around getting bashed up like me. And you finished off those three guys in an instant. That'ss an incredible self-created style right there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I speak, remembering that refreshing instant of when I met this girl, Ryougi seems a bit surprised.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's different. I only copied what I had seen. More than that, there's never been an instance where I've used our house's school of fighting.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She nonchalantly spat out that frightening statement, then Ryougi collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> ... Steam is rising from somewhere.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Sheek, sheek, and a noise that seems like something from a picture book can be heard.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no light, and the room is dark.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This place... is hot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of the burning iron plate and that magma-like light were my unique supports.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On the walls around me, huge bottles are lined up neatly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There are long, thin cords scattered all over the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of steam, and the noise of the water boiling. .............................. It was night, and I suddenly opened my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Because, I had a bad dream.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The clock said it was still 3 AM, dawn; there was still a while to go before it was time to wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I turned to look at the bed, Ryougi wasn't there. ... As it so happens, that girl occasionally takes walks at night. Even so, to go and wander about at dawn when even the vegetation is asleep...&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Should I go out and greet her? --- Although I knew that not getting involved in each other's private lives under any circumstances was an unspoken condition for using this place as an abode, I had that thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I hesitated for a while then thought, fine, and got straight up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter how strong she is, it doesn't change the fact that Ryougi is a girl of the same age as me. On top of that, her appearance is more than enough for those idiots who go around in packs at night to fall for her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Just when I made up my mind and went out into the corridor, the front door opened noiselessly to admit the girl in her normal attire of a red jacket over a kimono.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As expected, Ryougi closes the door without making a sound.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, you've come back?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I felt like I had taken a blow for some reason, and that remark popped out of my mouth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A glance, and Ryougi turned to look at me ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> At that instant, I thought that I was going to be killed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The lights are off and the corridor is dark. In that darkness, only Ryougi's eyes are shining with a blue light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't do anything. Can't breath, can't think properly, I can only stand there like a post.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- you too, won't do.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I heard a noise. When I regained my wits, Ryougi had breezed past me and angrily thrown her leather jacket on the bed as if she was in a temper.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi sat down on the bed, then leaned back on the wall to stare at the ceiling.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Withstanding the chill that still ran down my back, I came back into the room, and sat down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A period of silence passes that makes me wonder if we won't drift off to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, the girl started talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I... went out to kill a person.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those words, how am I supposed to respond to them? All I could do was go, oh is that so?, and nod.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But it was all for nothing. Since I couldn't find anyone I wanted to kill today either. A moment ago, when you were in the corridor, I thought I might be satisfied if it was you, but as expected it wasn't to be. Even if I did it, there's no meaning to it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... I thought I was totally dead.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I speak honestly, and Ryougi replies, that's why it wouldn't work.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I want to feel that I'm alive. But there's no meaning to just killing people. I am wandering around at night without even an objective. That's no different from being a ghost. Someday --- I will meaninglessly kill someone.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It may seem like Ryougi is speaking to Enjou Tomoe, but in fact she isn't talking to anyone. ... She's as blank as a drug addict suffering from withdrawal symptoms.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The sort of thing had never happened until now. The Ryougi from around that time when I first met her may have wandered about at night, but there had never been an instance when she returned with such murderous intent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oi, what's wrong with you, Ryougi? It's unlike you. Wake up!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Funnily enough --- I was grabbing onto her shoulder, which I hadn't even brushed against before.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe it. That this, the shoulder of the girl who seemed so detached... was so, slender.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... My mind's fine. I had this kind of feeling during summer too. At that time as well ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she remembered something unpleasant, Ryougi stopped talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I take my hand off Ryougi and come down from the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi gives up leaning on the wall and lies back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I try calling her name, but there's no response. That brat said it before. That the mind is something that cannot be seen. Therefore, a problem that is invisible is something that must never be confessed to another person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's right --- Ryougi is a loner.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I am also like that, but I at least have a few friends that I meet casually for a change of mood.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's me, but this girl probably doesn't have any such person. Since this girl, who is perfect even in the smallest details unlike me, doesn't have the need for something like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Hey, Ryougi. Do you have any friends?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tried not to look at the girl's face and asked the question with my back facing the bed. Ryougi thought briefly, and then replied, I have one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? You have one? You? A friend?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In complete opposition to the surprised me, Ryougi calmly said, yes, and nodded.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case, the story's simple. When you feel down, it doesn't matter if it's pointless, just try hanging out with them. Just changing the scenery will ease your mind. Forgetting things like your problems and talking about insignificant things will make you feel better.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- I don't have one right now. That creep's gone far away.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I became unable to say anything at her words. Because Ryougi's voice sounded so lonely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Maybe that was just my opinion, as Ryougi started to slam the bed with her fists as she worked herself up into a rage.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That creep just does freely does whatever on a whim! Coming over to our house whenever the fancy strikes and giving me nothing but a phone number. Getting sick for a month in summer, too -- Why do I have to be anxious about a creep like that?!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Phwock, phwock, there were some violent sounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This time I really can't trust my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The indomitable Ryougi is waving her arms and legs around on the bed and throwing a tantrum.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, the reality might not be something so simple. She could be stabbing the pillow with her knife. Whatever it was, the sound is changing from a whacking noise to a ripping noise.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was afraid to check out the situation, so I didn't turn around to look at Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She continued to cause a commotion for a time, then Ryougi went quiet.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In any case, I envy that friend or whatever who can drive Ryougi so crazy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I found I wanted to know more about that person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she's still upset, Ryougi doesn't answer. I ignore the silence and continue.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That person you said is a friend. What's your relationship with them? A friend from high school?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Yeah, he's a high school friend, but he's like a poet.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> What's 'like a poet'? If their age is similar, if he's a guy or a girl, I decide to leave for another day. There's not much point to me knowing anyhow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, so your wandering around at night, is that person the cause?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi thinks briefly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Nah. Walking at night is my hobby, and my murder impulse is mine alone. No one else is involved. The problem is mine, so I know what kind of state I'm in right now. ... Hmm, in short, I'm so unbalanced right now that I make even you feel uneasy around me.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi speaks serenely, as if describing someone else's affairs.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Uneasy --- I'm not particularly uneasy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;When you told me that you felt like you were going to be murdered by me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A pretty voice comes flying at my throat.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... A feeling like a cold snake coiling itself around my neck comes to me. Very briefly, I questioned if the thing rolling around behind me was really human.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, you thought that again now as well. But that's a misplaced uneasiness. The reason I kill is because I can't feel that I'm alive. You can't be a target.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What does that mean? Is Ryougi saying that even if she kills me --- Enjou Tomoe, she won't enjoy it?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But --- okay. You still need to find another place to stay, Enjou. I only can't feel that I'm alive --- but Ryougi Shiki definitely likes to kill.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Abruptly, Ryougi murmurs that, as if confessing something.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The subdued tone of her voice. That voice that seems about to break, as if laying bare the troubles of her heart. ... Damn it. A woman who is already far away seems even further off.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that, I realized. That as much as I feared this girl --- no, I was even more strongly attracted to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Idiot, where in the world is that kind of thing?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At any rate, I continue the conversation because I want to refute Ryougi's words.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All it is is that your heart's uneasy. Quickly call in that friend or whatever of yours and let out everything, even if you don't feel like it. Friends are there for that reason; if you don't you drift far off from each other ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Pouring out everything in my heart up to that point I cut off my words. In the same way as Ryougi did before, swept up by my emotions, I talked as I liked and only realized after the fact that I did something wrong.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- That's all I'm trying to say. Good night.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I spat out those words as if chewing bugs, and lay down to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi said something, but I ignore and decide to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Tonight, I'm not confident of being able to speak any further normally with Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. I pricked my heart with the words I had poured out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah, no matter what I do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That friend's role will never come around to me.&lt;br&gt;</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_03&diff=67094 2010-06-05T18:22:09Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/3 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Close to a week has passed since I started staying in Ryougi's room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With both me and Ryougi going out during the day, a strange state of affairs continues where we only see each other when we go to sleep at night. Even so it was inconvenient not knowing each other's names after a week or so had passed, so we told each other our names.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Her name is Ryougi Shiki. Surprisingly enough she really is a high school student. I don't know anything more than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi calls me Enjou. Maybe because of that, I call Ryougi Shiki by the name of Ryougi. Ryougi herself dislikes being called by her family name, but I can't bring myself to call her Shiki.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. Quite simply, I don't have that strong a resolve. I don't want to become friendlier than necessary with someone I will one day part from forever. If I come to call her Shiki, it will definitely become more difficult to leave this girl. I thought that such a relationship would only be a hindrance to someone like me, who might be caught at any time by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Enjou, don't you have a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On a night no different from any other, sitting on the bed with the gabuza ('''!&lt;!-- TN: What the hell is this?--&gt;''') on, Ryougi threw an unexpected question at me without any warning.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's questions, they always begin abruptly like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;A girl... Well, if I had one I wouldn't come rolling into a place like this.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh. You look like you would be popular.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hearing such an empty compliment doesn't make me happy at all. I'm sick of girls anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Oho, how come?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi must have felt some interest in the story as she pushed her head out towards me rolling around on the floor. From my position lying right beside the bed it looks like only the head is popping out and it's somehow cute.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you gay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What I said before, forget it. That this brat could be cute, I must have briefly been out of mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no particular reason. To put it simply, it was just annoying. I tried dating for real, and it wasn't very fun.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I never really liked those of the opposite sex. There was a time in high school when I went out with a girl for 3 months, but that isn't a sweet memory and I think all we did was fight a lot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Before I knew it I was haltingly telling her about my recollections.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It wasn't that I wanted very much. But she wanted too much from me. At first I thought 'well I guess that's how it goes' and I put up with it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah. I bought her anything she wanted and if she wanted to be fancy I paid for it. Probably, there wasn't an instance when I couldn't meet her high expectations.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She was happy every time, but on the other hand I was cooling off towards her. Sex wasn't as great as everyone thought either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It felt like Ryougi was listening properly to my soliloquy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;After a while I started getting sick of her. It's not just the surrounding environment. Time, money, even emotions, it felt like a waste to give them to her. I did kind of like her, but satisfying your sexual appetite is something you can do alone ('''!&lt;!--Okay... I'll remove this later but WTF?--&gt;''')&lt;br&gt;<br /> --- If I was a normal student, I would have had too much time on my hands. But I didn't have any free time. The more time I spent with her the less sleep I got. For someone like me, without even a minute to spare, something like a girlfriend was an impossibility from the start.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However I didn't try to break up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She looked happy, and I didn't want to put her in tears by issuing an absolute statement like 'let's break up'. ... I didn't want to inflict any wounds, and I didn't like receiving a wound either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But you still broke up. How did you dump her?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You know, stop treating me like some criminal. I was the one that got dumped. She told me suddenly after we did everything to do at a hotel. That 'you never looked at me. You just looked at my body and never saw my mind'. Honestly speaking it was a bit of a shock.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As I told the story's conclusion with a shrug, Ryougi rudely burst into laughter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Amazing, you don't look at my mind! Haha, you got caught by some fussy woman, didn't ya Enjou!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The springs in the bed creak in protest. This brat, she's rolling around on top of the bed laughing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, was there something strange about my story? It's my bitter memories of youth you know.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I get angry and bolt upright. Ryougi then stopped laughing and stared at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's weird. The only thing humans can see is the outward appearance. But that girl said that you who only looked at that wasn't needed, to say that you don't like someone because they can't see something invisible like the mind, that kind of girl isn't normal. Not being normal means you are abnormal. See, it's funny. That girl, if she wanted you to see her mind she could have written a letter. Enjoh, you did well to break up with that girl.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Coldly making fun of me, Ryougi lay back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Like a cat she stared at me blankly from that position, then Ryougi opened her mouth as if it was difficult for her to say what followed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Well, it's not something for me to say, but. If you speak out loud about an uneasiness that 'cannot be seen' it becomes a lie. I can't know myself but love is believing in something. The blindness of love, isn't that it's meaning?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's something I heard from another though, Ryougi added and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ending the conversation as usual in an abrupt manner like splitting bamboo, I also went to bed with a troubled mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Turning off the light, I though as I fell into sleep. I'm a complete dunderhead when it comes to those people that I have feelings for called 'women' but, I think that if it was this girl there wouldn't be any such unilateral demands. No, if it was Ryougi, wouldn't I be able to take even such annoying things with a smile on my face?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> A night of the second week.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I opened the door with my key and went inside Ryougi was already asleep. ... As if she thinks of me as some sort of cat she doesn't show any signs of waking up even when she hears me rambling around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But today that's fortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hiding my pummeled cheek, I plonk myself down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The bedside clock goes around. Both the hands are pointing to the 12.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... For some reason, I hate clock faces. Digital displays are my preference. A feeling comes to me that there's no place for me inside the spinning clock and I get afraid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ow.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My bruised leg suddenly throbbed with pain and I screamed before I could stop myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is sleeping like the dead. There's no signs that she will wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That profile of her face, I unthinkingly stared at it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- In the two weeks that we've lived together, I've come to know only one thing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl, really is a doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She's always asleep on the bed like a corpse. This girl doesn't wake up in the morning; instead she is resurrected from death to life when she has something to do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I thought it was to go to school, but I don't think that's the reason. Because whenever she receives a phone call from somewhere, Ryougi regains her vitality.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It goes without saying that I sense that the subject matter of those calls is suspicious.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However, Ryougi is waiting for that. In its absence, this girl remains here like some doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That image was too beautiful. There was nothing as inconsequential as sadness. Ryougi delights only in the things she must do and comes back to life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This is perfection without fault. For the first time, I met the 'genuine item' that I had concluded I would never see. That which I had believed was like that. That which I wanted to be. That pure strength, which took no notice of what others did as long as you had yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Shiki.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> From my mouth, Ryougi's name leaked out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Quieter than a whisper, an utterance that was like an expelled breath.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But Ryougi's eyes snapped wide open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the, you're bruised all over again?&quot;<br /> <br /> As soon as she opened her eyes, Ryougi wrinkled her brow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I couldn't help it. The other side kept provoking me for no reason.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tell it as it was. While coming back today, I got tangled up with two people I didn't know and we beat each other up. Of course I laid them out, but I'm also unskilled at fighting and get a lot of wounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You did something, didn't you? To be so weak even with that. Do you like being hit?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi says as she sits up on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> You did something, does that mean something like martial arts or judo?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't draw any unquantified conclusions. I don't know anything about martial arts. Although if it's just fighting, I can do it as well as the next guy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh? I definitely thought you would, since you used your palm when fighting. --- Then how did you know to use the palm of your hand?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I should have guessed. Now that I think about it I was once congratulated about that. When hitting someone, a person who hasn't trained his fist will just hurt his hand, and after a few hits their own bones get damaged. So it's better for half-baked amateurs like me to use our palms to hit with. No, there are martial arts where the palm is more effective instead.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course, I don't know anything like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your palm is harder. Doesn't everyone use their palms to crush cans? There probably aren't many who would do it with their fists.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's because it's easier with the palm of you hand.&quot;<br /> <br /> Although Ryougi replied coldly, it seemed like she was admiring me in truth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She cautiously looks at my face. Getting embarrassed by her scrutiny, I struggled and kept talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;So what did you do some of, Ryougi? Aikido?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Aikido is just for fun. There's only one thing I've done since I was young.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Since you were young, eh. I thought you were strong. It was you who let loose a high kick at the back of a fleeing opponent's head. I thought how you acted was different. It was because of that. So do you have anything like a finishing move?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I ask the lamest questions. But Ryougi goes mmm, and falls into serious thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I suppose I have something along those lines. I train with taking down everything using that as my premise, so if you call it a finishing move, it is one. But we aren't of that school. And it's originally a self-created style as well.&quot;(This part could be reworked).<br /> <br /> The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts and while you are fighting is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In response to this dialogue that seemed to scorn oneself, I couldn't do anything but cock my head.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, if you are strong then that's that. There wont be any instances where you go around getting bashed up like me. And you finished off those three guys in an instant. That'ss an incredible self-created style right there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I speak, remembering that refreshing instant of when I met this girl, Ryougi seems a bit surprised.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's different. I only copied what I had seen. More than that, there's never been an instance where I've used our house's school of fighting.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She nonchalantly spat out that frightening statement, then Ryougi collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> ... Steam is rising from somewhere.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Sheek, sheek, and a noise that seems like something from a picture book can be heard.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no light, and the room is dark.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This place... is hot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of the burning iron plate and that magma-like light were my unique supports.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On the walls around me, huge bottles are lined up neatly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There are long, thin cords scattered all over the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of steam, and the noise of the water boiling. .............................. It was night, and I suddenly opened my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Because, I had a bad dream.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The clock said it was still 3 AM, dawn; there was still a while to go before it was time to wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I turned to look at the bed, Ryougi wasn't there. ... As it so happens, that girl occasionally takes walks at night. Even so, to go and wander about at dawn when even the vegetation is asleep...&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Should I go out and greet her? --- Although I knew that not getting involved in each other's private lives under any circumstances was an unspoken condition for using this place as an abode, I had that thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I hesitated for a while then thought, fine, and got straight up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter how strong she is, it doesn't change the fact that Ryougi is a girl of the same age as me. On top of that, her appearance is more than enough for those idiots who go around in packs at night to fall for her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Just when I made up my mind and went out into the corridor, the front door opened noiselessly to admit the girl in her normal attire of a red jacket over a kimono.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As expected, Ryougi closes the door without making a sound.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, you've come back?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I felt like I had taken a blow for some reason, and that remark popped out of my mouth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A glance, and Ryougi turned to look at me ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> At that instant, I thought that I was going to be killed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The lights are off and the corridor is dark. In that darkness, only Ryougi's eyes are shining with a blue light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't do anything. Can't breath, can't think properly, I can only stand there like a post.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- you too, won't do.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I heard a noise. When I regained my wits, Ryougi had breezed past me and angrily thrown her leather jacket on the bed as if she was in a temper.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi sat down on the bed, then leaned back on the wall to stare at the ceiling.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Withstanding the chill that still ran down my back, I came back into the room, and sat down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A period of silence passes that makes me wonder if we won't drift off to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, the girl started talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I... went out to kill a person.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those words, how am I supposed to respond to them? All I could do was go, oh is that so?, and nod.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But it was all for nothing. Since I couldn't find anyone I wanted to kill today either. A moment ago, when you were in the corridor, I thought I might be satisfied if it was you, but as expected it wasn't to be. Even if I did it, there's no meaning to it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... I thought I was totally dead.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I speak honestly, and Ryougi replies, that's why it wouldn't work.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I want to feel that I'm alive. But there's no meaning to just killing people. I am wandering around at night without even an objective. That's no different from being a ghost. Someday --- I will meaninglessly kill someone.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It may seem like Ryougi is speaking to Enjou Tomoe, but in fact she isn't talking to anyone. ... She's as blank as a drug addict suffering from withdrawal symptoms.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The sort of thing had never happened until now. The Ryougi from around that time when I first met her may have wandered about at night, but there had never been an instance when she returned with such murderous intent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oi, what's wrong with you, Ryougi? It's unlike you. Wake up!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Funnily enough --- I was grabbing onto her shoulder, which I hadn't even brushed against before.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe it. That this, the shoulder of the girl who seemed so detached... was so, slender.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... My mind's fine. I had this kind of feeling during summer too. At that time as well ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she remembered something unpleasant, Ryougi stopped talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I take my hand off Ryougi and come down from the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi gives up leaning on the wall and lies back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I try calling her name, but there's no response. That brat said it before. That the mind is something that cannot be seen. Therefore, a problem that is invisible is something that must never be confessed to another person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's right --- Ryougi is a loner.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I am also like that, but I at least have a few friends that I meet casually for a change of mood.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's me, but this girl probably doesn't have any such person. Since this girl, who is perfect even in the smallest details unlike me, doesn't have the need for something like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Hey, Ryougi. Do you have any friends?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tried not to look at the girl's face and asked the question with my back facing the bed. Ryougi thought briefly, and then replied, I have one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? You have one? You? A friend?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In complete opposition to the surprised me, Ryougi calmly said, yes, and nodded.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case, the story's simple. When you feel down, it doesn't matter if it's pointless, just try hanging out with them. Just changing the scenery will ease your mind. Forgetting things like your problems and talking about insignificant things will make you feel better.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- I don't have one right now. That creep's gone far away.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I became unable to say anything at her words. Because Ryougi's voice sounded so lonely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Maybe that was just my opinion, as Ryougi started to slam the bed with her fists as she worked herself up into a rage.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That creep just does freely does whatever on a whim! Coming over to our house whenever the fancy strikes and giving me nothing but a phone number. Getting sick for a month in summer, too -- Why do I have to be anxious about a creep like that?!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Phwock, phwock, there were some violent sounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This time I really can't trust my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The indomitable Ryougi is waving her arms and legs around on the bed and throwing a tantrum.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, the reality might not be something so simple. She could be stabbing the pillow with her knife. Whatever it was, the sound is changing from a whacking noise to a ripping noise.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was afraid to check out the situation, so I didn't turn around to look at Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She continued to cause a commotion for a time, then Ryougi went quiet.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In any case, I envy that friend or whatever who can drive Ryougi so crazy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I found I wanted to know more about that person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she's still upset, Ryougi doesn't answer. I ignore the silence and continue.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That person you said is a friend. What's your relationship with them? A friend from high school?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Yeah, he's a high school friend, but he's like a poet.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> What's 'like a poet'? If their age is similar, if he's a guy or a girl, I decide to leave for another day. There's not much point to me knowing anyhow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, so your wandering around at night, is that person the cause?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi thinks briefly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Nah. Walking at night is my hobby, and my murder impulse is mine alone. No one else is involved. The problem is mine, so I know what kind of state I'm in right now. ... Hmm, in short, I'm so unbalanced right now that I make even you feel uneasy around me.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi speaks serenely, as if describing someone else's affairs.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Uneasy --- I'm not particularly uneasy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;When you told me that you felt like you were going to be murdered by me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A pretty voice comes flying at my throat.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... A feeling like a cold snake coiling itself around my neck comes to me. Very briefly, I questioned if the thing rolling around behind me was really human.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, you thought that again now as well. But that's a misplaced uneasiness. The reason I kill is because I can't feel that I'm alive. You can't be a target.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What does that mean? Is Ryougi saying that even if she kills me --- Enjou Tomoe, she won't enjoy it?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But --- okay. You still need to find another place to stay, Enjou. I only can't feel that I'm alive --- but Ryougi Shiki definitely likes to kill.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Abruptly, Ryougi murmurs that, as if confessing something.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The subdued tone of her voice. That voice that seems about to break, as if laying bare the troubles of her heart. ... Damn it. A woman who is already far away seems even further off.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that, I realized. That as much as I feared this girl --- no, I was even more strongly attracted to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Idiot, where in the world is that kind of thing?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At any rate, I continue the conversation because I want to refute Ryougi's words.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All it is is that your heart's uneasy. Quickly call in that friend or whatever of yours and let out everything, even if you don't feel like it. Friends are there for that reason; if you don't you drift far off from each other ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Pouring out everything in my heart up to that point I cut off my words. In the same way as Ryougi did before, swept up by my emotions, I talked as I liked and only realized after the fact that I did something wrong.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- That's all I'm trying to say. Good night.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I spat out those words as if chewing bugs, and lay down to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi said something, but I ignore and decide to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Tonight, I'm not confident of being able to speak any further normally with Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. I pricked my heart with the words I had poured out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah, no matter what I do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That friend's role will never come around to me.&lt;br&gt;</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_03&diff=67093 2010-06-05T18:18:04Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/3 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Close to a week has passed since I started staying in Ryougi's room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With both me and Ryougi going out during the day, a strange state of affairs continues where we only see each other when we go to sleep at night. Even so it was inconvenient not knowing each other's names after a week or so had passed, so we told each other our names.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Her name is Ryougi Shiki. Surprisingly enough she really is a high school student. I don't know anything more than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi calls me Enjou. Maybe because of that, I call Ryougi Shiki by the name of Ryougi. Ryougi herself dislikes being called by her family name, but I can't bring myself to call her Shiki.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. Quite simply, I don't have that strong a resolve. I don't want to become friendlier than necessary with someone I will one day part from forever. If I come to call her Shiki, it will definitely become more difficult to leave this girl. I thought that such a relationship would only be a hindrance to someone like me, who might be caught at any time by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Enjou, don't you have a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On a night no different from any other, sitting on the bed with the gabuza ('''!&lt;!-- TN: What the hell is this?--&gt;''') on, Ryougi threw an unexpected question at me without any warning.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's questions, they always begin abruptly like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;A girl... Well, if I had one I wouldn't come rolling into a place like this.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh. You look like you would be popular.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hearing such an empty compliment doesn't make me happy at all. I'm sick of girls anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Oho, how come?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi must have felt some interest in the story as she pushed her head out towards me rolling around on the floor. From my position lying right beside the bed it looks like only the head is popping out and it's somehow cute.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you gay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What I said before, forget it. That this brat could be cute, I must have briefly been out of mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no particular reason. To put it simply, it was just annoying. I tried dating for real, and it wasn't very fun.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I never really liked those of the opposite sex. There was a time in high school when I went out with a girl for 3 months, but that isn't a sweet memory and I think all we did was fight a lot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Before I knew it I was haltingly telling her about my recollections.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It wasn't that I wanted very much. But she wanted too much from me. At first I thought 'well I guess that's how it goes' and I put up with it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah. I bought her anything she wanted and if she wanted to be fancy I paid for it. Probably, there wasn't an instance when I couldn't meet her high expectations.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She was happy every time, but on the other hand I was cooling off towards her. Sex wasn't as great as everyone thought either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It felt like Ryougi was listening properly to my soliloquy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;After a while I started getting sick of her. It's not just the surrounding environment. Time, money, even emotions, it felt like a waste to give them to her. I did kind of like her, but satisfying your sexual appetite is something you can do alone ('''!&lt;!--Okay... I'll remove this later but WTF?--&gt;''')&lt;br&gt;<br /> --- If I was a normal student, I would have had too much time on my hands. But I didn't have any free time. The more time I spent with her the less sleep I got. For someone like me without even a minute to spare something like a girlfriend was an impossibility from the start.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However I didn't try to break up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She looked happy, and I didn't want to put her in tears by issuing an absolute statement like 'let's break up'. ... I didn't want to inflict any wounds, and I didn't like receiving a wound either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But you still broke up. How did you dump her?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You know, stop treating me like some criminal. I was the one that got dumped. She told me suddenly after we did everything to do at a hotel. That 'you never looked at me. You just looked at my body and never saw my mind'. Honestly speaking it was a bit of a shock.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As I told the story's conclusion with a shrug, Ryougi rudely burst into laughter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Amazing, you don't look at my mind! Haha, you got caught by some fussy woman, didn't ya Enjou!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The springs in the bed creak in protest. This brat, she's rolling around on top of the bed laughing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, was there something strange about my story? It's my bitter memories of youth you know.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I get angry and bolt upright. Ryougi then stopped laughing and stared at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;It's weird. The only thing humans can see is the outward appearance. But that girl said that you who only looked at that wasn't needed, to say that you don't like someone because they can't see something invisible like the mind, that kind of girl isn't normal. Not being normal means you are abnormal. See, it's funny. That girl, if she wanted you to see her mind she could have written a letter. Enjoh, you did well to break up with that girl.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Coldly making fun of me, Ryougi lay back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Like a cat she stared at me blankly from that position, then Ryougi opened her mouth as if it was difficult for her to say what followed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Well, it's not something for me to say, but. If you speak out loud about an uneasiness that 'cannot be seen' it becomes a lie. I can't know myself but love is believing in something. The blindness of love, isn't that it's meaning?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's something I heard from another though, Ryougi added and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ending the conversation as usual in an abrupt manner like splitting bamboo, I also went to bed with a troubled mind.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Turning off the light, I though as I fell into sleep. I'm a complete dunderhead when it comes to those people that I have feelings for called 'women' but, I think that if it was this girl there wouldn't be any such unilateral demands. No, if it was Ryougi, wouldn't I be able to take even such annoying things with a smile on my face?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> A night of the second week.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I opened the door with my key and went inside Ryougi was already asleep. ... As if she thinks of me as some sort of cat she doesn't show any signs of waking up even when she hears me rambling around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But today that's fortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hiding my pummeled cheek, I plonk myself down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The bedside clock goes around. Both the hands are pointing to the 12.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... For some reason, I hate clock faces. Digital displays are my preference. A feeling comes to me that there's no place for me inside the spinning clock and I get afraid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ow.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My bruised leg suddenly throbbed with pain and I screamed before I could stop myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi is sleeping like the dead. There's no signs that she will wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That profile of her face, I unthinkingly stared at it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- In the two weeks that we've lived together, I've come to know only one thing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl, really is a doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She's always asleep on the bed like a corpse. This girl doesn't wake up in the morning; instead she is resurrected from death to life when she has something to do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I thought it was to go to school, but I don't think that's the reason. Because whenever she receives a phone call from somewhere, Ryougi regains her vitality.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It goes without saying that I sense that the subject matter of those calls is suspicious.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However, Ryougi is waiting for that. In its absence, this girl remains here like some doll.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That image was too beautiful. There was nothing as inconsequential as sadness. Ryougi delights only in the things she must do and comes back to life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This is perfection without fault. For the first time, I met the 'genuine item' that I had concluded I would never see. That which I had believed was like that. That which I wanted to be. That pure strength, which took no notice of what others did as long as you had yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Shiki.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> From my mouth, Ryougi's name leaked out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Quieter than a whisper, an utterance that was like an expelled breath.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But Ryougi's eyes snapped wide open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the, you're bruised all over again?&quot;<br /> <br /> As soon as she opened her eyes, Ryougi wrinkled her brow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I couldn't help it. The other side kept provoking me for no reason.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tell it as it was. While coming back today, I got tangled up with two people I didn't know and we beat each other up. Of course I laid them out, but I'm also unskilled at fighting and get a lot of wounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You did something, didn't you? To be so weak even with that. Do you like being hit?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi says as she sits up on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> You did something, does that mean something like martial arts or judo?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't draw any unquantified conclusions. I don't know anything about martial arts. Although if it's just fighting, I can do it as well as the next guy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oh? I definitely thought you would, since you used your palm when fighting. --- Then how did you know to use the palm of your hand?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I should have guessed. Now that I think about it I was once congratulated about that. When hitting someone, a person who hasn't trained his fist will just hurt his hand, and after a few hits their own bones get damaged. So it's better for half-baked amateurs like me to use our palms to hit with. No, there are martial arts where the palm is more effective instead.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course, I don't know anything like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Your palm is harder. Doesn't everyone use their palms to crush cans? There probably aren't many who would do it with their fists.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's because it's easier with the palm of you hand.&quot;<br /> <br /> Although Ryougi replied coldly, it seemed like she was admiring me in truth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She cautiously looks at my face. Getting embarrassed by her scrutiny, I struggled and kept talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;So what did you do some of, Ryougi? Aikido?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Aikido is just for fun. There's only one thing I've done since I was young.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Since you were young, eh. I thought you were strong. It was you who let loose a high kick at the back of a fleeing opponent's head. I thought how you acted was different. It was because of that. So do you have anything like a finishing move?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I ask the lamest questions. But Ryougi goes mmm, and falls into serious thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I suppose I have something along those lines. I train with taking down everything using that as my premise, so if you call it a finishing move, it is one. But we aren't of that school. And it's originally a self-created style as well.&quot;(This part could be reworked).<br /> <br /> The thing you train is your mindset, Ryougi adds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You remake your body. From your breathing to the placement of your feet, awareness, thoughts, to be able to remake all of them for combat. Even the way of using your muscles changes, so it might feel like you become a different person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> I suppose tensing your body and mind as a fight starts and while you are fighting is the foundation of all martial arts. However, we followed only that too much, and as a result our path went too far.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In response to this dialogue that seemed to scorn oneself, I couldn't do anything but cock my head.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, if you are strong then that's that. There wont be any instances where you go around getting bashed up like me. And you finished off those three guys in an instant. That'ss an incredible self-created style right there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I speak, remembering that refreshing instant of when I met this girl, Ryougi seems a bit surprised.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That's different. I only copied what I had seen. More than that, there's never been an instance where I've used our house's school of fighting.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She nonchalantly spat out that frightening statement, then Ryougi collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> ... Steam is rising from somewhere.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Sheek, sheek, and a noise that seems like something from a picture book can be heard.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no light, and the room is dark.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This place... is hot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of the burning iron plate and that magma-like light were my unique supports.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> On the walls around me, huge bottles are lined up neatly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There are long, thin cords scattered all over the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> There's no one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Only the sound of steam, and the noise of the water boiling. .............................. It was night, and I suddenly opened my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Because, I had a bad dream.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ticktickticktick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The clock said it was still 3 AM, dawn; there was still a while to go before it was time to wake up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I turned to look at the bed, Ryougi wasn't there. ... As it so happens, that girl occasionally takes walks at night. Even so, to go and wander about at dawn when even the vegetation is asleep...&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Should I go out and greet her? --- Although I knew that not getting involved in each other's private lives under any circumstances was an unspoken condition for using this place as an abode, I had that thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I hesitated for a while then thought, fine, and got straight up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter how strong she is, it doesn't change the fact that Ryougi is a girl of the same age as me. On top of that, her appearance is more than enough for those idiots who go around in packs at night to fall for her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Just when I made up my mind and went out into the corridor, the front door opened noiselessly to admit the girl in her normal attire of a red jacket over a kimono.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As expected, Ryougi closes the door without making a sound.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What, you've come back?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I felt like I had taken a blow for some reason, and that remark popped out of my mouth.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A glance, and Ryougi turned to look at me ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> At that instant, I thought that I was going to be killed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The lights are off and the corridor is dark. In that darkness, only Ryougi's eyes are shining with a blue light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't do anything. Can't breath, can't think properly, I can only stand there like a post.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- you too, won't do.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I heard a noise. When I regained my wits, Ryougi had breezed past me and angrily thrown her leather jacket on the bed as if she was in a temper.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi sat down on the bed, then leaned back on the wall to stare at the ceiling.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Withstanding the chill that still ran down my back, I came back into the room, and sat down on the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A period of silence passes that makes me wonder if we won't drift off to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, the girl started talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I... went out to kill a person.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those words, how am I supposed to respond to them? All I could do was go, oh is that so?, and nod.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But it was all for nothing. Since I couldn't find anyone I wanted to kill today either. A moment ago, when you were in the corridor, I thought I might be satisfied if it was you, but as expected it wasn't to be. Even if I did it, there's no meaning to it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... I thought I was totally dead.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I speak honestly, and Ryougi replies, that's why it wouldn't work.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I want to feel that I'm alive. But there's no meaning to just killing people. I am wandering around at night without even an objective. That's no different from being a ghost. Someday --- I will meaninglessly kill someone.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It may seem like Ryougi is speaking to Enjou Tomoe, but in fact she isn't talking to anyone. ... She's as blank as a drug addict suffering from withdrawal symptoms.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The sort of thing had never happened until now. The Ryougi from around that time when I first met her may have wandered about at night, but there had never been an instance when she returned with such murderous intent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Oi, what's wrong with you, Ryougi? It's unlike you. Wake up!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Funnily enough --- I was grabbing onto her shoulder, which I hadn't even brushed against before.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe it. That this, the shoulder of the girl who seemed so detached... was so, slender.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... My mind's fine. I had this kind of feeling during summer too. At that time as well ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she remembered something unpleasant, Ryougi stopped talking.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I take my hand off Ryougi and come down from the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi gives up leaning on the wall and lies back on the bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I try calling her name, but there's no response. That brat said it before. That the mind is something that cannot be seen. Therefore, a problem that is invisible is something that must never be confessed to another person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's right --- Ryougi is a loner.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I am also like that, but I at least have a few friends that I meet casually for a change of mood.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That's me, but this girl probably doesn't have any such person. Since this girl, who is perfect even in the smallest details unlike me, doesn't have the need for something like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Hey, Ryougi. Do you have any friends?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I tried not to look at the girl's face and asked the question with my back facing the bed. Ryougi thought briefly, and then replied, I have one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? You have one? You? A friend?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In complete opposition to the surprised me, Ryougi calmly said, yes, and nodded.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case, the story's simple. When you feel down, it doesn't matter if it's pointless, just try hanging out with them. Just changing the scenery will ease your mind. Forgetting things like your problems and talking about insignificant things will make you feel better.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- I don't have one right now. That creep's gone far away.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I became unable to say anything at her words. Because Ryougi's voice sounded so lonely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Maybe that was just my opinion, as Ryougi started to slam the bed with her fists as she worked herself up into a rage.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That creep just does freely does whatever on a whim! Coming over to our house whenever the fancy strikes and giving me nothing but a phone number. Getting sick for a month in summer, too -- Why do I have to be anxious about a creep like that?!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Phwock, phwock, there were some violent sounds.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This time I really can't trust my eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The indomitable Ryougi is waving her arms and legs around on the bed and throwing a tantrum.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, the reality might not be something so simple. She could be stabbing the pillow with her knife. Whatever it was, the sound is changing from a whacking noise to a ripping noise.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was afraid to check out the situation, so I didn't turn around to look at Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She continued to cause a commotion for a time, then Ryougi went quiet.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In any case, I envy that friend or whatever who can drive Ryougi so crazy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I found I wanted to know more about that person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, Ryougi.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if she's still upset, Ryougi doesn't answer. I ignore the silence and continue.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;That person you said is a friend. What's your relationship with them? A friend from high school?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Yeah, he's a high school friend, but he's like a poet.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> What's 'like a poet'? If their age is similar, if he's a guy or a girl, I decide to leave for another day. There's not much point to me knowing anyhow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Okay, so your wandering around at night, is that person the cause?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi thinks briefly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Nah. Walking at night is my hobby, and my murder impulse is mine alone. No one else is involved. The problem is mine, so I know what kind of state I'm in right now. ... Hmm, in short, I'm so unbalanced right now that I make even you feel uneasy around me.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi speaks serenely, as if describing someone else's affairs.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Uneasy --- I'm not particularly uneasy.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;When you told me that you felt like you were going to be murdered by me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> A pretty voice comes flying at my throat.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... A feeling like a cold snake coiling itself around my neck comes to me. Very briefly, I questioned if the thing rolling around behind me was really human.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, you thought that again now as well. But that's a misplaced uneasiness. The reason I kill is because I can't feel that I'm alive. You can't be a target.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... What does that mean? Is Ryougi saying that even if she kills me --- Enjou Tomoe, she won't enjoy it?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;But --- okay. You still need to find another place to stay, Enjou. I only can't feel that I'm alive --- but Ryougi Shiki definitely likes to kill.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Abruptly, Ryougi murmurs that, as if confessing something.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The subdued tone of her voice. That voice that seems about to break, as if laying bare the troubles of her heart. ... Damn it. A woman who is already far away seems even further off.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that, I realized. That as much as I feared this girl --- no, I was even more strongly attracted to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Idiot, where in the world is that kind of thing?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At any rate, I continue the conversation because I want to refute Ryougi's words.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;All it is is that your heart's uneasy. Quickly call in that friend or whatever of yours and let out everything, even if you don't feel like it. Friends are there for that reason; if you don't you drift far off from each other ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Pouring out everything in my heart up to that point I cut off my words. In the same way as Ryougi did before, swept up by my emotions, I talked as I liked and only realized after the fact that I did something wrong.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- That's all I'm trying to say. Good night.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I spat out those words as if chewing bugs, and lay down to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi said something, but I ignore and decide to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Tonight, I'm not confident of being able to speak any further normally with Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The reason is simple. I pricked my heart with the words I had poured out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yeah, no matter what I do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That friend's role will never come around to me.&lt;br&gt;</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_02&diff=67092 2010-06-05T18:13:16Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/2 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Click, a noise. It's the room beside mine.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it getting around 10 o'clock? Only a few minutes have passed since and I'm tired from work, I entrusted my body to my bedsheets. Woken from my shallow sleep I was suddenly dozing off again.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The noise from the other side of the door only came once.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens. It connects to the room next door. A square light enters my dark room with its switched off light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it mother? I sneak a peek in that direction with half closed eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> At this point I always have a thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That, this kind of scene, it would have been better had I not seen it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The one who opened the door is my mother. Because of the light coming from behind her I can't tell anything about her except that she's standing there. That image isn't important as my eyes see nothing but the dreadful image visible though the open door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The image of my dad lying slumped over the dinner table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The cheap table, which should be brown, is dyed red and my fallen father keeps dripping red blood onto the floor. ... It just seemed like a broken tap.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Tomoe, please die,&quot; says the standing shadow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I only knew that the shadow was my mother after I had been stabbed in the chest.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My mother stabs me over and over with the kitchen knife, lastly she slits her own throat with it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Its a nightmare to end all nightmares.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My nights, always finish in this manner.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> Click, click, click.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I woke up to the sound in my ears, Ryougi had already gone out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Lifting up my body, which is bruised all over from the beating I got, I look around the room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stuck in the corner of the second floor in a four storey apartment, this is the house of the kimono girl. Or, would it be more appropriate to call it a room than a house. The hallway stretches 1m from the front door to the lounge, and on the way is a door leading to the bathroom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if the lounge doubles as a bedroom, the bed upon which the woman was sleeping till a moment ago is there. There's another room next to the lounge but it seems that it is not being used.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After following her for an hour, the place I arrived at was this room. Seeing as the mailbox at the apartment entrance bore the name Ryougi, it seems that the woman's last name is Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That woman --- even after Ryougi brought me into the room she didn't say anything but instead stripped off her leather jacket and crawled into bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even indifference should have a limit. I started to get angry and honestly thought about assaulting her. But, if I did so and caused a commotion a crowd would gather and I would be in trouble. After pondering what to do for a long time I used a cushion that was rolling around on the floor as a pillow and just decided to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, this morning, when I opened my eyes, that woman was nowhere to be seen.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the hell is she thinking,&quot; I mumble absent-mindedly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Thinking back after regaining my cool, Ryougi appears to be the same age as me. It seems more suitable to call her a girl than a woman.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If she's seventeen she's a student. In that case has she gone to school? I don't think that's correct, this room is too bleak to accept that. The only things in this room are a bed, fridge, phone, four leather jackets hanging on the coat hanger and a wardrobe, which feels like it would contain clothing. There's no TV or even a radio. There are no magazines that were carelessly dropped after being read and there isn't even a table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, I remember her words from last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I said that I had killed someone Ryougi had replied that she had done the same. ... Ryougi's words didn't seemed real back then, but they might be true after all. Because this room is a fugitive's room. The sense that someone lives here is lacking to the point of morbidity. At that moment I got a chilling sensation. I thought I had picked up an ace of spades but had I picked up a joker instead? ... Whatever the case I didn't intend to stay long. I wanted to at least say goodbye but since the person in question isn't here there's no helping it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Walking carefully like a thief who has broken in, I decided to leave the unfamiliar girl's room.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Coming outside I wandered aimlessly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I hesitantly went around the road beside the mansion, but regardless of my situation the world was no different from usual. Like a hand on a clock going round and round it was just repeating its daily routine with no change at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So its like this in the end. Depressed, I came out to the main road.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The road is the same as always. There are no police looking for Enjoh Tomoe, and there are no looks holding me in contempt for being a murderer.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> For some reason it seems the bodies haven't been found yet. Yes, there's no way the world could change so much due to something a half-wit like me did. I don't seem to be a fugitive yet. Even so I didn't feel like going back home.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Past noon and I've come to the plaza with the bronze statue of a dog. Draping myself onto a suitable bench I look up at the big neon sign set up on a near-by building.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that state I spent a few blank hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even though its a weekday this place is booming with people. The side-walks are overflowing with people and when the pedestrian lights turn green, a tide of humanity flows out with a force that seems set to knock the cars out of the way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The majority of the crowd are humans that aren't so different in age from me. On the whole they walk foward with smiling faces or iron visages. There's no hesitation there. No --- they've probably never even thought of hesitating. On their faces there isn't even the letter 'life', I can't see these faces as living for a hope-filled future or a dream they wish to fulfil. Everyone walks on with faces that say they know everything about the world. But amongst all that, how much truth is there?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it everyone, or is it just a portion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Real and fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I kept looking from within the crowds, unable to be reconciled, to try and find a real one, but couldn't distinguish them at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it obvious? --- As originally the only one who would know such a thing is yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I turned my eyes from the crowds of humanity up towards the sky.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes --- to that point I wasn't real. I may have thought I was real but then I hopelessly revealed my true nature.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Until I entered high school Enjoh Tomoe was a well known name in the track and field world. Hating to lose, I didn't once see the backs of other athletes during junior high. I was confident of shortening my record still further, and there was no reason to suspect my intelligence either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Besides, I liked to run more than anything else.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that I at least was genuine. I even had a conviction that I wouldn't let any obstacle get in my way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I stopped running.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Our family was never rich. My father lost his job when I was in elementary school so our household was always barren. My mother was born in a distinguished family and it was said that she broke off all ties with her family to marry my father. My dad who lost his job and didn't work, and my mother who grew up ignorant of the world and didn't know how to do anything.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that crumbling family I think I grew up faster than other children. I lied about my age to do part-time work and I was at least earning my school fees in any way I could.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I don't know anything of what was going on with our family. I was too busy just living my life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I went to school with the money I earned, and entered high school through my efforts alone. My parents whom I already could not think of as parents and the problem of money with which to live on. To me who bore those two burdens, running was my unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So no matter how tired I was I continued club activities and was able to enter high school as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But then My dad caused an accident. He hit a person with a car. That wasn't the only problem. Dad didn't even have a driver's license ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I think mother obtained the indemnity for the victim's family by borrowing money from her relations with her head bowed. At that time I was depressed and didn't want to think about anything so I can't be sure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Waiting for me, after all the strife was over, was the change in my surroundings. There was no longer any connection between me and my parents, but for just the reason that I was their child there was a sudden change in the school community's attitude towards me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The track team coaches, who had always been helpful, then began to openly ignore me. The seniors who had supported me saying that a prodigy had joined the club pressured me to quit the track team.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was already used to that sort of thing so it wasn't really a problem.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My problem was my family. Because of the accident, my dad lost the little income he had and no longer had the strength to support a family. My mother started doing unfamiliar part-time work, but that kind of thing could only cover the heating and lighting bills.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Already unable to obtain a proper job from a few years back, to make us more miserable my dad killed a person while driving without a license. That rumour spread and spread until my dad could no longer go outside. My mother braved the insults to go and find work but she could never stay in one place for long. It got so bad that if I just took a walk somebody would throw a rock at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The criticism from those around us got worse daily, but I didn't feel any anger about it. What my father did was real. I thought of the persecution and contempt as a natural reaction. After all the one at fault wasn't the world but my dad.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And yet, it wasn't as if the object of my anger was my parents either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that time I hated everything. Everything that surrounded me became annoying.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter what you did or how hard you tried, the result would be the same. No matter how fast you ran, if that annoying thing called family followed along the future was as clear as a flame at night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was definitely then that I stopped fighting.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> We chase after the so-called natural life and undergo painful experiences as a result. If I accept that my life is like this anyway, there's no reason to think myself unfortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's just like when we are young. Exchanging reality for a fantasy, I decided to live on by myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Everything seemed to be of no import after I made that choice and school was the first thing I quit.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, if I didn't work all day I couldn't support my family. If you are young there are plenty of jobs available regardless of experience.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Awkwardly for me I possessed that useless thing called a conscience, and I couldn't throw away my family. Yet I did not talk to them at all after I quit school.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Acting in this manner --- I woke up one day to find that I had clean forgotten about the running I had liked so much.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was something I had enjoyed so much. Something that had been such a source of relief. It became something I gave up because of a trifling misfortune occurred, that realisation shocked even me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The people who had praised me disappeared, and I didn't have time to run anymore. How could such excuse-like things break me of my enjoyment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If I was real --- if running was something that I could never have exchanged for anything else, if running was the heart of the human called Enjoh Tomoe, things wouldn't have turned out like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I was young, I followed my parents to a ranch and saw a horse. Seeing that horse that I didn't even know the name of, I broke down and cried. Seeing that being whose only act in life was to run, I couldn't stop my tears from pouring out. If there were such things as past lives I would have been one of them. That was how strong my belief was, that was how much I admired the very act of running itself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was a fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes. It was only that I had a firm belief of my reality, I was actually nothing more than a fake ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- You even killed a person in the end.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Heehee, I laugh. To be laughing when I'm not happy at all, humans are so flawed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even looking at the sky gets tedious, so I look around the street.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The flood of humanity doesn't cease at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those people going on by with smiling or cold faces can't be real. If they were living with some goal in mind there's no way they would be in a pleasure area like this. Or rather, if you were to say that their objective in life was to play --- that kind of 'real' I can't accept.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, I came back to my senses from there onwards. For me --- as self-righteous as my thoughts are, there's nothing like a meaning in my position.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking at the clock, it was becoming night time without me having noticed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't stay here for hours on end. I left the overflowing tide of humanity behind and left that place.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The light from a weak streetlight is illuminating the street by an unfamiliar residence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After the autumn sun fell I walked for three hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> While pondering where to spend the night, I recollected my wits and found that I was close to Ryougi's apartment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Humans, if we crash once do we become so unable to act like men?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was always prideful of the fact that the merit of the guy called Enjoh Tomoe was the rapidity with which my feelings changed. But if I'm like this its not fast or slow. Am I still unable to cut those lingering attachments after all?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I look up I don't see a light on in Ryougi's room. It seems that she is absent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Fine. Since I've come here I may as well look.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I go up the stairs. Let's confront the harsh reality, the reason for my actions was that I wanted to guide that part of me that still clung to a unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Going up the iron stairway that clanged with every step, I arrived at the room on the end of the second floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The paper that was here when I came out this morning isn't there. It looks like Ryougi came back once. There's no response even when I knock on the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, she's not there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After I just wait for a bit I try turning the handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- It moves.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens easily.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The inside is dark. With the handle in my hand I froze. My mind is blank.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How long am I going to stand here like this? The moment I thought that --- I shoved my body through the opening and went inside.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Gulp, I swallow my saliva.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe this, I can't believe this, I can't believe I would do something like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course I am playing the part of the criminal now, but I always hated anything resembling crime. Since I was young I disliked cowardly acts. Yet, after committing murder I am now trespassing. --- No, this is force majeur. Anyway, that girl said so as well, that I could use this place as I liked.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Repeating incoherent excuses in the bottom of my heart I walk in. From the front door to the corridor, from the corridor to the lounge.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The light's aren't on so the room's dark. Within the darkness, I gasp for breath and kill the noise of my footsteps.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Damn it, under these circumstance I may as well be a thief. Lights, I have to turn on the lights. You get suspicious if it's dark. Ah, but where's the switch ---?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I pat the wall looking for the light switch for the fluorescent light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that moment I hear the door open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's come back, before I could think to explain myself, the owner of the house turned on the light and opened the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She opens it, and stares at my trespassing self with blank eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What, you came today as well? What are you doing, not even turning the lights on.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Speaking coldly as if berating a classmate, Ryougi closes the door to the room and sheds her leather jacket.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Straddling the edge of the bed in that state, she put her hand into the convenience store plastic bag she was holding in one hand and rustled around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Do you want it? I hate cold things.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hwik, she throws me a cup of ice-cream. The label says Haagen-Daaz's strawberry. The fact that she doesn't care about an invader like me isn't the only puzzling thing about her, buying something she doesn't like is a riddle as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Holding the cold cup in both hands, I fully mobilise my reasoning power.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl doesn't care about me at all. Even though she knows ... well I can't be sure how sincerely she takes it... that I'm a murderer. Does the fact that she still offered her room as a refuge mean that this girl is someone the police is after too ... ?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Hey. You. You are a suspicious person aren't you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I asked such a thing ignoring all the things I had done, the kimono girl started laughing, &quot;Ahahahaha!&quot; loudly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You are a weird one, you are. Oho --- suspicious, you say I'm suspicious! That's a really good expression, it really captures the feel, really!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi was earnestly laughing. As the black hair that she had cut as she liked became scattered, I couldn't see her anything but a suspicious person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Haha, ahahahaha, ha --- Mmm, yeah. There's no one in this area who kicks up a fuss like me. But didn't you kick up quite a fuss yourself? In that case it shouldn't matter what's happened, should it? For that sort of thing? Is that all you have to say?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Wearing a meaningful smile, the kimono girl looks up at me. .... That pose with its air of somewhat fragile tranquility, it was similar to a child holding a new toy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No.... just one more question. Why, are you helping me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You asked me to help you. I helped you since I didn't have anything else to do. You don't have a place to sleep do you? You can use this place for a while. It's not as if Mikiya is coming anytime soon anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... You helped because you had nothing better to do? What the hell is that, however relaxed you may be, what kind of stupid reason is that? My mind may be upside down, but its not mangled so badly as to blindly accept that. With this as evidence I can at least figure out if this girl is lying or not.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I glare at the girl in the kimono. She doesn't pay any attention at all. It's different from disregard, but it's not imposing indifference either. ... What is this paradox. Distressingly, there is no reason to suspect that Ryougi is not speaking sincerely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If it's not that, could it be that this person does not need a beneficial reason. If you took it as granted that this girl didn't think of easy to understand reasons like, because you are a friend or, because I can get money.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But, even then ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you for real? You are going to hide a suspicious guy like me without wanting anything in return? You haven't taken any drugs have you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a rude guy. I hate drugs, and I'm extremely normal. I don't even report anything to the police. Although I will if you tell me to.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I also do not worry about such a thing. Who could picture this girl contacting the police. What I worried about was something more basic than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Look. I'm a guy and you are a girl. Letting someone you don't even know sleep over is a bit... I'm asking if it's still okay, that's what I'm saying!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? Don't guys go somewhere different if they want to hug a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At this reply spoken with a preposterous face, I didn't know what to say.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No, I'm saying since ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ah, just shut up. If this place isn't to your liking you can just find another place to stay. Why are you stubbornly sounding out what I think?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Harshly cutting off my words the girl puts her hand back into the plastic bag. What she took out was a triangular tomato sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It really seems like there's no one like me in her vicinity.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case I will use this place as my sleeping place. Is that okay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Although I shouted because of my frustration the other party didn't bat an eyelid and nodded assent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Fine. I'll tell you its annoying if it gets annoying,&quot; Ryougi says while chewing the sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that my strength left me and I sat myself down plumply onto the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And time flowed by.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However it was, I decided to go along boldly. As if to try and regain that conceit that the merit of Enjoh Tomoe is the quick change in feelings, I think about my days to come.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I've obtained a sleeping place for now. As for meals the 30000 yen I've got on me should last me for a month. In that time I have to find a way to live without being caught by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Eh?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, a question formed. Why was it that tonight the front door hadn't been locked?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, why didn't you lock the door?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Isn't it obvious, I don't have a key so I don't lock it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hearing that I almost fainted.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl Ryougi, apparently she didn't have a key to the house. The only time she locked the door was when she slept, when she went out she just closed the door. The position of the person in question being, even if a thief was to come in while she was away, there would be no harm done to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So the reason I was able to trespass wasn't a coincidence or anything. It could be that the reason for the absence of any household items in this room is because a burglar broke in.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You idiot, at least take a key around! Normally, you go and borrow a spare key from the owner if you don't have one.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I lost the spare too. So what? It's nothing that would trouble you, and if you stole these kind of things it would just weigh you down.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Damn it, if I talk one way she's the type to rebut my words in that manner. Even so I can't relax if she doesn't have a key. There's a sense of self-preservation that's always on your mind, but is that instinct missing in Ryougi's life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I put aside the undescribable repulsion I had been holding towards Ryougi until a moment ago, and truly worried about this immature kid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't say something so stupid. What kind of house doesn't have a key. Wait... Since it's become like this, I'll replace the whole thing with a new one for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... That's fine but, do you have the money?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't think so lowly of me. I can do this much at least. I'll do it all tonight, so from tomorrow on carry a key with you properly!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, I stood up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I worked at a moving company. I learnt enough about repairing things around a house that I can easily repair something like an apartment door. At the storage facility of the company I had worked at until 2 days ago there should at least be something like a stock door handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With a vigor I could scarcely credit, I was running out into the night-time streets.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How do I secretly enter the building when the police could catch me at any moment, I earnestly wonder, I realise that I'm on an extremely dangerous adventure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Really, I can't say anything about Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> To be breaking into the company I had worked at for a girl I didn't even properly know the name of, I'm a pretty crazy person too.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_02&diff=67091 2010-06-05T17:47:07Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/2 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Click, a noise. It's the room beside mine.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it getting around 10 o'clock? Only a few minutes have passed since and I'm tired from work, I entrusted my body to my bedsheets. Woken from my shallow sleep I was suddenly dozing off again.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The noise from the other side of the door only came once.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens. It connects to the room next door. A square light enters my dark room with its switched off light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it mother? I sneak a peek in that direction with half closed eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> At this point I always have a thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That, this kind of scene, it would have been better had I not seen it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The one who opened the door is my mother. Because of the light coming from behind her I can't tell anything about her except that she's standing there. That image isn't important as my eyes see nothing but the dreadful image visible though the open door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The image of my dad lying slumped over the dinner table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The cheap table, which should be brown, is dyed red and my fallen father keeps dripping red blood onto the floor. ... It just seemed like a broken tap.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Tomoe, please die,&quot; says the standing shadow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I only knew that the shadow was my mother after I had been stabbed in the chest.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My mother stabs me over and over with the kitchen knife, lastly she slits her own throat with it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Its a nightmare to end all nightmares.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My nights, always finish in this manner.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> Click, click, click.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I woke up to the sound in my ears, Ryougi had already gone out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Lifting up my body, which is bruised all over from the beating I got, I look around the room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stuck in the corner of the second floor in a four storey apartment, this is the house of the kimono girl. Or, would it be more appropriate to call it a room than a house. The hallway stretches 1m from the front door to the lounge, and on the way is a door leading to the bathroom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if the lounge doubles as a bedroom, the bed upon which the woman was sleeping till a moment ago is there. There's another room next to the lounge but it seems that it is not being used.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After following her for an hour, the place I arrived at was this room. Seeing as the mailbox at the apartment entrance bore the name Ryougi, it seems that the woman's last name is Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That woman --- even after Ryougi brought me into the room she didn't say anything but instead stripped off her leather jacket and crawled into bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even indifference should have a limit. I started to get angry and honestly thought about assaulting her. But, if I did so and caused a commotion a crowd would gather and I would be in trouble. After pondering what to do for a long time I used a cushion that was rolling around on the floor as a pillow and just decided to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, this morning, when I opened my eyes, that woman was nowhere to be seen.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the hell is she thinking,&quot; I mumble absent-mindedly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Thinking back after regaining my cool, Ryougi appears to be the same age as me. It seems more suitable to call her a girl than a woman.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If she's seventeen she's a student. In that case has she gone to school? I don't think that's correct, this room is too bleak to accept that. The only things in this room are a bed, fridge, phone, four leather jackets hanging on the coat hanger and a wardrobe, which feels like it would contain clothing. There's no TV or even a radio. There are no magazines that were carelessly dropped after being read and there isn't even a table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, I remember her words from last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I said that I had killed someone Ryougi had replied that she had done the same. ... Ryougi's words didn't seemed real back then, but they might be true after all. Because this room is a fugitive's room. The sense that someone lives here is lacking to the point of morbidity. At that moment I got a chilling sensation. I thought I had picked up an ace of spades but had I picked up a joker instead? ... Whatever the case I didn't intend to stay long. I wanted to at least say goodbye but since the person in question isn't here there's no helping it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Walking carefully like a thief who has broken in, I decided to leave the unfamiliar girl's room.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Coming outside I wandered aimlessly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I hesitantly went around the road beside the mansion, but regardless of my situation the world was no different from usual. Like a hand on a clock going round and round it was just repeating its daily routine with no change at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So its like this in the end. Depressed, I came out to the main road.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The road is the same as always. There are no police looking for Enjoh Tomoe, and there are no looks holding me in contempt for being a murderer.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> For some reason it seems the bodies haven't been found yet. Yes, there's no way the world could change so much due to something a half-wit like me did. I don't seem to be a fugitive yet. Even so I didn't feel like going back home.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Past noon and I've come to the plaza with the bronze statue of a dog. Draping myself onto a suitable bench I look up at the big neon sign set up on a near-by building.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that state I spent a few blank hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even though its a weekday this place is booming with people. The side-walks are overflowing with people and when the pedestrian lights turn green, a tide of humanity flows out with a force that seems set to knock the cars out of the way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The majority of the crowd are humans that aren't so different in age from me. On the whole they walk foward with smiling faces or iron visages. There's no hesitation there. No --- they've probably never even thought of hesitating. On their faces there isn't even the letter 'life', I can't see these faces as living for a hope-filled future or a dream they wish to fulfil. Everyone walks on with faces that say they know everything about the world. But amongst all that, how much truth is there?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it everyone, or is it just a portion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Real and fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I kept looking from within the crowds, unable to be reconciled, to try and find a real one, but couldn't distinguish them at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it obvious? --- As originally the only one who would know such a thing is yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I turned my eyes from the crowds of humanity up towards the sky.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes --- to that point I wasn't real. I may have thought I was real but then I hopelessly revealed my true nature.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Until I entered high school Enjoh Tomoe was a well known name in the track and field world. Hating to lose, I didn't once see the backs of other athletes during junior high. I was confident of shortening my record still further, and there was no reason to suspect my intelligence either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Besides, I liked to run more than anything else.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that I at least was genuine. I even had a conviction that I wouldn't let any obstacle get in my way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I stopped running.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Our family was never rich. My father lost his job when I was in elementary school so our household was always barren. My mother was born in a distinguished family and it was said that she broke off all ties with her family to marry my father. My dad who lost his job and didn't work, and my mother who grew up ignorant of the world and didn't know how to do anything.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that crumbling family I think I grew up faster than other children. I lied about my age to do part-time work and I was at least earning my school fees in any way I could.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I don't know anything of what was going on with our family. I was too busy just living my life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I went to school with the money I earned, and entered high school through my efforts alone. My parents whom I already could not think of as parents and the problem of money with which to live on. To me who bore those two burdens, running was my unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So no matter how tired I was I continued club activities and was able to enter high school as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But then My dad caused an accident. He hit a person with a car. That wasn't the only problem. Dad didn't even have a driver's license ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I think mother obtained the indemnity for the victim's family by borrowing money from her relations with her head bowed. At that time I was depressed and didn't want to think about anything so I can't be sure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Waiting for me, after all the strife was over, was the change in my surroundings. There was no longer any connection between me and my parents, but for just the reason that I was their child there was a sudden change in the school community's attitude towards me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The track team coaches, who had always been helpful, then began to openly ignore me. The seniors who had supported me saying that a prodigy had joined the club pressured me to quit the track team.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was already used to that sort of thing so it wasn't really a problem.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My problem was my family. Because of the accident, my dad lost the little income he had and no longer had the strength to support a family. My mother started doing unfamiliar part-time work, but that kind of thing could only cover the heating and lighting bills.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Already unable to obtain a proper job from a few years back, to make us more miserable my dad killed a person while driving without a license. That rumour spread and spread until my dad could no longer go outside. My mother braved the insults to go and find work but she could never stay in one place for long. It got so bad that if I just took a walk somebody would throw a rock at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The criticism from those around us got worse daily, but I didn't feel any anger about it. What my father did was real. I thought of the persecution and contempt as a natural reaction. After all the one at fault wasn't the world but my dad.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And yet, it wasn't as if the object of my anger was my parents either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that time I hated everything. Everything that surrounded me became annoying.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter what you did or how hard you tried, the result would be the same. No matter how fast you ran, if that annoying thing called family followed along the future was as clear as a flame at night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was definitely then that I stopped fighting.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> We chase after the so-called natural life and undergo painful experiences as a result. If I accept that my life is like this anyway, there's no reason to think myself unfortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's just like when we are young. Exchanging reality for a fantasy, I decided to live on by myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Everything seemed to be of no import after I made that choice and school was the first thing I quit.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, if I didn't work all day I couldn't support my family. If you are young there are plenty of jobs available regardless of experience.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Awkwardly for me I possessed that useless thing called a conscience, and I couldn't throw away my family. Yet I did not talk to them at all after I quit school.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Acting in this manner --- I woke up one day to find that I had clean forgotten about the running I had liked so much.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was something I had enjoyed so much. Something that had been such a source of relief. It became something I gave up because of a trifling misfortune occurred, that realisation shocked even me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The people who had praised me disappeared, and I didn't have time to run anymore. How could such excuse-like things break me of my enjoyment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If I was real --- if running was something that I could never have exchanged for anything else, if running was the heart of the human called Enjoh Tomoe, things wouldn't have turned out like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I was young, I followed my parents to a ranch and saw a horse. Seeing that horse that I didn't even know the name of, I broke down and cried. Seeing that being whose only act in life was to run, I couldn't stop my tears from pouring out. If there were such things as past lives I would have been one of them. That was how strong my belief was, that was how much I admired the very act of running itself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was a fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes. It was only that I had a firm belief of my reality, I was actually nothing more than a fake ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- You even killed a person in the end.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Heehee, I laugh. To be laughing when I'm not happy at all, humans are so flawed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even looking at the sky gets tedious, so I look around the street.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The flood of humanity doesn't cease at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those people going on by with smiling or cold faces can't be real. If they were living with some goal in mind there's no way they would be in a pleasure area like this. Or rather, if you were to say that their objective in life was to play --- that kind of 'real' I can't accept.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, I came back to my senses from there onwards. For me --- as self-righteous as my thoughts are, there's nothing like a meaning in my position.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking at the clock, it was becoming night time without me having noticed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't stay here for hours on end. I left the overflowing tide of humanity behind and left that place.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The light from a weak streetlight is illuminating the street by an unfamiliar residence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After the autumn sun fell I walked for three hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> While pondering where to spend the night, I recollected my wits and found that I was close to Ryougi's apartment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Humans, if we crash once do we become so unable to act like men?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was always prideful of the fact that the merit of the guy called Enjoh Tomoe was the rapidity with which my feelings changed. But if I'm like this its not fast or slow. Am I still unable to cut those lingering attachments after all?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I look up I don't see a light on in Ryougi's room. It seems that she is absent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Fine. Since I've come here I may as well look.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I go up the stairs. Let's confront the harsh reality, the reason for my actions was that I wanted to guide that self of mine that still clung to an unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Going up the iron stairway that clangs with every step, I arrived at the room on the end of the second floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The paper that was here when I came out this morning isn't there. It looks like Ryougi came back once. There's no response even when I knock on the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, she's not there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After I just wait for a bit I try turning the handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- It moves.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens easily.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The inside is dark. With the handle in my hand I froze. My mind is blank.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How long am I going to stand here like this? The moment I thought that --- I shoved my body through the opening and went inside.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Gulp, I swallow my saliva.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe this, I can't believe this, I can't believe I would do something like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course I am imitating a rebel now, but I always hated anything like crime. Since I was young I disliked cowardly acts. Yet, after committing murder I am now trespassing. --- No, this is force majeur. Anyway, that girl said so as well, that I could use this place as I liked.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Repeating incoherent excuses in the bottom of my heart I walk in. From the front door to the corridor, from the corridor to the lounge.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The light's aren't on so the room's dark. Within the darkness, I gasp for breath and kill the noise of my footsteps.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Damn it, under these circumstance I may as well be a thief. Lights, I have to turn on the lights. You get suspected because its dark. Ah, but where's the switch ---?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I pat the wall looking for the light switch for the fluorescent light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that moment I hear the door open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's come back, before I could think that fix my position, the owner of the house turned on the light and opened the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She opens it, and stares at my trespassing self with blank eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What, you came today as well? What are you doing, not even turning the lights on.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Speaking coldly as if berating a classmate, Ryougi closes the door to the room and sheds her leather jacket.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Straddling the edge of the bed in that state, she put her hand into the convenience store plastic bag she was holding in one hand and rustled around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Do you want it? I hate cold things.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hwik, she throws me a cup of ice-cream. The label says Haagen-Daaz's strawberry. That she doesn't care about an invader like me isn't the only puzzling thing about her, buying something she doesn't like is a riddle as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Holding the cold cup in both hands, I fully mobilise my reasoning power.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl doesn't care about me at all. Even though she knows ... well I can't be sure how sincerely she takes it... that I'm a murderer. Does the fact that she still offered her room as a refuge mean that this girl is someone the police is after too ... ?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Oi. You. You are a suspicious person aren't you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I asked such a thing ignoring all the things I had done, the kimono girl started laughing, &quot;Ahahahaha!&quot; loudly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You are a weird one, you are. Oho --- suspicious, you say I'm suspicious! That's a really good expression, it really captures the feel, really!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi was earnestly laughing. As the black hair that she had cut as she liked became scattered, I couldn't see her anything but a suspicious person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Haha, ahahahaha, ha --- Mmm, yeah. There's no one in this area who kicks up a fuss like me. But didn't you kick up quite a fuss yourself? In that case it shouldn't matter what's happened, should it? For that sort of thing? Is that all you have to say?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Wearing a meaningful smile, the kimono girl looks up at me. .... That pose with its air of somewhat fragile tranquility, it was similar to a child holding a new toy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No.... just one more question. Why, are you helping me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You asked me to help you. I helped you since I didn't have anything else to do. You don't have a place to sleep do you? You can use this place for a while. It's not as if Mikiya is coming anytime soon anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... You helped because you had nothing better to do? What the hell is that, however relaxed you may be what kind of stupid reason is that. My mind may be upside down, but its not mangled so badly as to blindly accept that. With this as evidence I can at least figure out if this girl is lying or not.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I glare at the girl in the kimono. She doesn't pay any attention at all. It's different from disregard, it's and imposing candidness. ... What is this paradox. Distressingly, there is no reason to suspect that Ryougi is not speaking sincerely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If it's not that, could it be that this person does not need a beneficial reason. If you took it as granted that this girl didn't think of easy to understand reasons like, because you are a friend or, because I can get money.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But, even then ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you for real? You are going to hide a suspicious guy like me without wanting anything in return? You haven't taken any drugs have you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a rude guy. I hate drugs, and I'm extremely normal. I don't even report anything to the police. Although I will if you tell me to.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I also do not worry about such a thing. Who could picture this girl contacting the police. What I worried about was something more basic than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Look. I'm a guy and you are a girl. Letting someone you don't even know sleep over is a bit... I'm asking if it's still okay, that's what I'm saying!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? Don't guys go somewhere different if they want to hug a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At this reply spoken with a preposterous face, I didn't know what to say.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No, I'm saying since ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ah, just shut up. If this place isn't to your liking you can just find another place to stay. Why are you stubbornly sounding out what I think?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Harshly cutting off my words the girl puts her hand back into the plastic bag. What she took out was a triangular tomato sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It really seems like there's no one like me in her vicinity.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case I will use this place as my sleeping place. Is that okay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Although I shouted because of my frustration the other party didn't bat an eyelid and nodded assent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Fine. I'll tell you its annoying if it gets annoying,&quot; Ryougi says while chewing the sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that my strength left me and I sat myself down plumply onto the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And time flowed by.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However it was, I decided to go along boldly. As if to try and regain that conceit that the merit of Enjoh Tomoe is the quick change in feelings, I think about my days to come.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I've obtained a sleeping place for now. As for meals the 30000 yen I've got on me should last me for a month. In that time I have to find a way to live without being caught by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Eh?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, a question formed. Why was it that tonight the front door hadn't been locked?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, why didn't you lock the door?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Isn't it obvious, I don't have a key so I don't lock it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hearing that I almost fainted.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl Ryougi, apparently she didn't have a key to the house. The only time she locked the door was when she slept, when she went out she just closed the door. The position of the person in question being, even if a thief was to come in while she was away there would be no harm done to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So the reason I was able to trespass wasn't a coincidence or anything. It could be that the reason for the absence of any household items in this room is because a burglar broke in.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You idiot, at least take a key around! Normally, you go and borrow a spare key from the owner if you don't have one.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I lost the spare too. So what? It's nothing that would trouble you, and if you stole these kind of things it would just weigh you down.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Damn it, if I talk one way she's the type to rebut my words in that manner. Even so I can't relax if she doesn't have a key. There's the safety of one's own self to think of, but is it that there is that bad a problem in Ryougi's life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I put aside the undescribable repulsion I had been holding towards Ryougi until a moment ago, and truly worried about this immature kid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't say something so stupid. What kind of house doesn't have a key. Wait... Since it's become like this, I'll replace the whole thing with a new one for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... That's fine but, do you have the money?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't think so lowly of me. I can do this much at least. I'll do it all tonight, so from tomorrow take a key around properly!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, I stood up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I worked at a moving company. I learnt enough about repairing things around a house that I can easily repair something like an apartment door. At the storage facility of the company I had worked at until 2 days ago there should at least be something like a stock door handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With a vigor I could scarcely credit, I was running out into the night-time streets.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How do I secretly enter the building when the police could catch me at any moment, I earnestly wonder, I realise that I'm on an extremely dangerous adventure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Really, I can't say anything about Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> To be breaking into the company I had worked at for a girl I didn't even properly know the name of, I'm a pretty crazy person too.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_02&diff=66427 2010-05-26T16:22:34Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/2 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Click, a noise. It's the room beside mine.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it getting around 10 o'clock? Only a few minutes have passed since and I'm tired from work, I entrusted my body to my bedsheets. Woken from my shallow sleep I was suddenly dozing off again.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The noise from the other side of the door only came once.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens. It connects to the room next door. A square light enters my dark room with its switched off light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it mother? I sneak a peek in that direction with half closed eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> At this point I always have a thought.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That, this kind of scene, it would have been better had I not seen it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The one who opened the door is my mother. Because of the light coming from behind her I can't tell anything about her except that she's standing there. That image isn't important as my eyes see nothing but the dreadful image visible though the open door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The image of my dad lying slumped over the dinner table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The cheap table, which should be brown, is dyed red and my fallen father keeps dripping red blood onto the floor. ... It just seemed like a broken tap.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Tomoe, please die,&quot; says the standing shadow.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I only knew that the shadow was my mother after I had been stabbed in the chest.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My mother stabs me over and over with the kitchen knife, lastly she slits her own throat with it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Its a nightmare to end all nightmares.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My nights, always finish in this manner.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> Click, click, click.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I woke up to the sound in my ears, Ryougi had already gone out.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Lifting up my body, which is bruised all over from the beating I got, I look around the room.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Stuck in the corner of the second floor in a four storey apartment, this is the house of the kimono girl. Or, would it be more appropriate to call it a room than a house. The hallway stretches 1m from the front door to the lounge, and on the way is a door leading to the bathroom.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> As if the lounge doubles as a bedroom, the bed upon which the woman was sleeping till a moment ago is there. There's another room next to the lounge but it seems that it is not being used.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After following her for an hour, the place I arrived at was this room. Seeing as the mailbox at the apartment entrance bore the name Ryougi, it seems that the woman's last name is Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> That woman --- even after Ryougi brought me into the room she didn't say anything but instead stripped off her leather jacket and crawled into bed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even indifference should have a limit. I started to get angry and honestly thought about assaulting her. But, if I did so and caused a commotion a crowd would gather and I would be in trouble. After pondering what to do for a long time I used a cushion that was rolling around on the floor as a pillow and just decided to sleep.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, this morning, when I opened my eyes, that woman was nowhere to be seen.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What the hell is she thinking,&quot; I mumble absent-mindedly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Thinking back after regaining my cool, Ryougi appears to be the same age as me. It seems more suitable to call her a girl than a woman.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If she's seventeen she's a student. In that case has she gone to school? I don't think that's correct, this room is too bleak to accept that. The only things in this room are a bed, fridge, phone, four leather jackets hanging on the coat hanger and a wardrobe, which feels like it would contain clothing. There's no TV or even a radio. There are no magazines that were carelessly dropped after being read and there isn't even a table.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, I remember her words from last night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I said that I had killed someone Ryougi had replied that she had done the same. ... Ryougi's words didn't seemed real back then, but they might be true after all. Because this room is a fugitive's room. The sense that someone lives here is lacking to the point of morbidity. At that moment I got a chilling sensation. I thought I had picked up an ace of spades but had I picked up a joker instead? ... Whatever the case I didn't intend to stay long. I wanted to at least say goodbye but since the person in question isn't here there's no helping it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Walking carefully like a thief who has broken in, I decided to leave the unfamiliar girl's room.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Coming outside I wandered aimlessly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At first I hesitantly went around the road beside the mansion, but regardless of my situation the world was no different from usual. Like a hand on a clock going round and round it was just repeating its daily routine with no change at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So its like this in the end. Depressed, I came out to the main road.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The road is the same as always. There are no police looking for Enjoh Tomoe, and there are no looks holding me in contempt for being a murderer.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> For some reason it seems the bodies haven't been found yet. Yes, there's no way the world could change so much due to something a half-wit like me did. I don't seem to be a fugitive yet. Even so I didn't feel like going back home.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Past noon and I've come to the plaza with the bronze statue of a dog. Draping myself onto a suitable bench I look up at the big neon sign set up on a near-by building.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that state I spent a few blank hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even though its a weekday this place is booming with people. The side-walks are overflowing with people and when the pedestrian lights turn green, a tide of humanity flows out with a force that seems set to knock the cars out of the way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The majority of the crowd are humans that aren't so different in age from me. On the whole they walk foward with smiling faces or iron visages. There's no hesitation there. No --- they've probably never even thought of hesitating. On their faces there isn't even the letter 'life', I can't see these faces as living for a hope-filled future or a dream they wish to fulfil. Everyone walks on with faces that say they know everything about the world. But amongst all that, how much truth is there?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it everyone, or is it just a portion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Real and fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I kept looking from within the crowds, unable to be reconciled, to try and find a real one, but couldn't distinguish them at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Is it obvious? --- As originally the only one who would know such a thing is yourself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I turned my eyes from the crowds of humanity up towards the sky.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes --- to that point I wasn't real. I may have thought I was real but then I hopelessly revealed my true nature.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Until I entered high school Enjoh Tomoe was a well known name in the track and field world. Hating to lose, I didn't once see the backs of other athletes during junior high. I was confident of shortening my record still further, and there was no reason to suspect my intelligence either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Besides, I liked to run more than anything else.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that I at least was genuine. I even had a conviction that I wouldn't let any obstacle get in my way.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I stopped running.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Our family was never rich. My father lost his job when I was in elementary school so our household was always barren. My mother was born in a distinguished family and it was said that she broke off all ties with her family to marry my father. My dad who lost his job and didn't work, and my mother who grew up ignorant of the world and didn't know how to do anything.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> In that crumbling family I think I grew up faster than other children. I lied about my age to do part-time work and I was at least earning my school fees in any way I could.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I don't know anything of what was going on with our family. I was too busy just living my life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I went to school with the money I earned, and entered high school through my efforts alone. My parents whom I already could not think of as parents and the problem of money with which to live on. To me who bore those two burdens, running was my unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So no matter how tired I was I continued club activities and was able to enter high school as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But then My dad caused an accident. He hit a person with a car. That wasn't the only problem. Dad didn't even have a driver's license ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I think mother obtained the indemnity for the victim's family by borrowing money from her relations with her head bowed. At that time I was depressed and didn't want to think about anything so I can't be sure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Waiting for me, after all the strife was over, was the change in my surroundings. There was no longer any connection between me and my parents, but for just the reason that I was their child there was a sudden change in the school community's attitude towards me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The track team coaches, who had always been helpful, then began to openly ignore me. The seniors who had supported me saying that a prodigy had joined the club pressured me to quit the track team.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was already used to that sort of thing so it wasn't really a problem.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> My problem was my family. Because of the accident, my dad lost the little income he had and no longer had the strength to support a family. My mother started doing unfamiliar part-time work, but that kind of thing could only cover the heating and lighting bills.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Already unable to obtain a proper job from a few years back, to make us more miserable my dad killed a person while driving without a license. That rumour spread and spread until my dad could no longer go outside. My mother braved the insults to go and find work but she could never stay in one place for long. It got so bad that if I just took a walk somebody would throw a rock at me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The criticism from those around us got worse daily, but I didn't feel any anger about it. What my father did was real. I thought of the persecution and contempt as a natural reaction. After all the one at fault wasn't the world but my dad.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And yet, it wasn't as if the object of my anger was my parents either.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that time I hated everything. Everything that surrounded me became annoying.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No matter what you did or how hard you tried, the result would be the same. No matter how fast you ran, if that annoying thing called family followed along the future was as clear as a flame at night.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was definitely then that I stopped fighting.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> We chase after the so-called natural life and undergo painful experiences as a result. If I accept that my life is like this anyway, there's no reason to think myself unfortunate.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It's just like when we are young. Exchanging reality for a fantasy, I decided to live on by myself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Everything seemed to be of no import after I made that choice and school was the first thing I quit.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> No, if I didn't work all day I couldn't support my family. If you are young there are plenty of jobs available regardless of experience.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Awkwardly for me I possessed that useless thing called a conscience, and I couldn't throw away my family. Yet I did not talk to them at all after I quit school.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Acting in this manner --- I woke up one day to find that I had clean forgotten about the running I had liked so much.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> It was something I had enjoyed so much. Something that had been such a source of relief. But it had been something I could give up because of so trifling a misfortune as that occurring, that realisation shocked even me.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The people who had praised me disappeared, and I didn't have time to run anymore. How could such excuse-like things break me of my enjoyment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If I was real --- if running was something that I could never have exchanged for anything else, if running was the heart of the human called Enjoh Tomoe, things wouldn't have turned out like that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... When I was young, I followed my parents to a ranch and saw a horse. Seeing that horse that I didn't even know the name of, I broke down and cried. Seeing that being whose only act in life was to run, I couldn't stop my tears from pouring out. If there were such things as past lives I would have been one of them. That was how strong my belief was, that was how much I admired the very act of running itself.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But I was a fake.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Yes. It was only that I had a firm belief of my reality, I was actually nothing more than a fake ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- You even killed a person in the end.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Heehee, I laugh. To be laughing when I'm not happy at all, humans are so flawed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Even looking at the sky gets tedious, so I look around the street.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... The flood of humanity doesn't cease at all.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Those people going on by with smiling or cold faces can't be real. If they were living with some goal in mind there's no way they would be in a pleasure area like this. Or rather, if you were to say that their objective in life was to play --- that kind of 'real' I can't accept.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Suddenly, I came back to my senses from there onwards. For me --- as self-righteous as my thoughts are, there's nothing like a meaning in my position.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Looking at the clock, it was becoming night time without me having noticing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't stay here for hours on end. I left the overflowing tide of humanity behind and left that place.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> The light from a weak streetlight is illuminating the street by an unfamiliar residence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After the autumn sun fell I walked for three hours.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> While pondering where to spend the night, I recollected my wits and found that I was close to Ryougi's apartment.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Humans, if we crash once do we become so unable to act like men?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I was always prideful of the fact that the merit of the guy called Enjoh Tomoe was the rapidity with which my feelings changed. But if I'm like this its not fast or slow. Am I still unable to cut those lingering attachments after all?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I look up I don't see a light on in Ryougi's room. It seems that she is absent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Fine. Since I've come here I may as well look.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I go up the stairs. Let's confront the harsh reality, the reason for my actions was that I wanted to guide that self of mine that still clung to an unique salvation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Going up the iron stairway that clangs with every step, I arrived at the room on the end of the second floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The paper that was here when I came out this morning isn't there. It looks like Ryougi came back once. There's no response even when I knock on the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;See, she's not there.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> After I just wait for a bit I try turning the handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- It moves.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The door opens easily.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The inside is dark. With the handle in my hand I froze. My mind is blank.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How long am I going to stand here like this? The moment I thought that --- I shoved my body through the opening and went inside.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Gulp, I swallow my saliva.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I can't believe this, I can't believe this, I can't believe I would do something like this.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Of course I am imitating a rebel now, but I always hated anything like crime. Since I was young I disliked cowardly acts. Yet, after committing murder I am now trespassing. --- No, this is force majeur. Anyway, that girl said so as well, that I could use this place as I liked.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Clickclickclick.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Repeating incoherent excuses in the bottom of my heart I walk in. From the front door to the corridor, from the corridor to the lounge.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> The light's aren't on so the room's dark. Within the darkness, I gasp for breath and kill the noise of my footsteps.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> --- Damn it, under these circumstance I may as well be a thief. Lights, I have to turn on the lights. You get suspected because its dark. Ah, but where's the switch ---?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I pat the wall looking for the light switch for the fluorescent light.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At that moment I hear the door open.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi's come back, before I could think that fix my position, the owner of the house turned on the light and opened the door.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> She opens it, and stares at my trespassing self with blank eyes.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What, you came today as well? What are you doing, not even turning the lights on.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Speaking coldly as if berating a classmate, Ryougi closes the door to the room and sheds her leather jacket.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Straddling the edge of the bed in that state, she put her hand into the convenience store plastic bag she was holding in one hand and rustled around.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Do you want it? I hate cold things.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hwik, she throws me a cup of ice-cream. The label says Haagen-Daaz's strawberry. That she doesn't care about an invader like me isn't the only puzzling thing about her, buying something she doesn't like is a riddle as well.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Holding the cold cup in both hands, I fully mobilise my reasoning power.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl doesn't care about me at all. Even though she knows ... well I can't be sure how sincerely she takes it... that I'm a murderer. Does the fact that she still offered her room as a refuge mean that this girl is someone the police is after too ... ?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... Oi. You. You are a suspicious person aren't you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> When I asked such a thing ignoring all the things I had done, the kimono girl started laughing, &quot;Ahahahaha!&quot; loudly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You are a weird one, you are. Oho --- suspicious, you say I'm suspicious! That's a really good expression, it really captures the feel, really!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ryougi was earnestly laughing. As the black hair that she had cut as she liked became scattered, I couldn't see her anything but a suspicious person.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Haha, ahahahaha, ha --- Mmm, yeah. There's no one in this area who kicks up a fuss like me. But didn't you kick up quite a fuss yourself? In that case it shouldn't matter what's happened, should it? For that sort of thing? Is that all you have to say?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Wearing a meaningful smile, the kimono girl looks up at me. .... That pose with its air of somewhat fragile tranquility, it was similar to a child holding a new toy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No.... just one more question. Why, are you helping me?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You asked me to help you. I helped you since I didn't have anything else to do. You don't have a place to sleep do you? You can use this place for a while. It's not as if Mikiya is coming anytime soon anyway.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... You helped because you had nothing better to do? What the hell is that, however relaxed you may be what kind of stupid reason is that. My mind may be upside down, but its not mangled so badly as to blindly accept that. With this as evidence I can at least figure out if this girl is lying or not.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I glare at the girl in the kimono. She doesn't pay any attention at all. It's different from disregard, it's and imposing candidness. ... What is this paradox. Distressingly, there is no reason to suspect that Ryougi is not speaking sincerely.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> If it's not that, could it be that this person does not need a beneficial reason. If you took it as granted that this girl didn't think of easy to understand reasons like, because you are a friend or, because I can get money.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> But, even then ---.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Are you for real? You are going to hide a suspicious guy like me without wanting anything in return? You haven't taken any drugs have you?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a rude guy. I hate drugs, and I'm extremely normal. I don't even report anything to the police. Although I will if you tell me to.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Ah, I also do not worry about such a thing. Who could picture this girl contacting the police. What I worried about was something more basic than that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Look. I'm a guy and you are a girl. Letting someone you don't even know sleep over is a bit... I'm asking if it's still okay, that's what I'm saying!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;What? Don't guys go somewhere different if they want to hug a girl?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> At this reply spoken with a preposterous face, I didn't know what to say.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;No, I'm saying since ---.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Ah, just shut up. If this place isn't to your liking you can just find another place to stay. Why are you stubbornly sounding out what I think?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Harshly cutting off my words the girl puts her hand back into the plastic bag. What she took out was a triangular tomato sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... It really seems like there's no one like me in her vicinity.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;In that case I will use this place as my sleeping place. Is that okay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Although I shouted because of my frustration the other party didn't bat an eyelid and nodded assent.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Fine. I'll tell you its annoying if it gets annoying,&quot; Ryougi says while chewing the sandwich.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With that my strength left me and I sat myself down plumply onto the floor.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And time flowed by.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> However it was, I decided to go along boldly. As if to try and regain that conceit that the merit of Enjoh Tomoe is the quick change in feelings, I think about my days to come.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I've obtained a sleeping place for now. As for meals the 30000 yen I've got on me should last me for a month. In that time I have to find a way to live without being caught by the police.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- Eh?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> All of a sudden, a question formed. Why was it that tonight the front door hadn't been locked?&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, why didn't you lock the door?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Isn't it obvious, I don't have a key so I don't lock it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;--- What?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Hearing that I almost fainted.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> This girl Ryougi, apparently she didn't have a key to the house. The only time she locked the door was when she slept, when she went out she just closed the door. The position of the person in question being, even if a thief was to come in while she was away there would be no harm done to her.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> So the reason I was able to trespass wasn't a coincidence or anything. It could be that the reason for the absence of any household items in this room is because a burglar broke in.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;You idiot, at least take a key around! Normally, you go and borrow a spare key from the owner if you don't have one.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;I lost the spare too. So what? It's nothing that would trouble you, and if you stole these kind of things it would just weigh you down.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ... Damn it, if I talk one way she's the type to rebut my words in that manner. Even so I can't relax if she doesn't have a key. There's the safety of one's own self to think of, but is it that there is that bad a problem in Ryougi's life.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I put aside the undescribable repulsion I had been holding towards Ryougi until a moment ago, and truly worried about this immature kid.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't say something so stupid. What kind of house doesn't have a key. Wait... Since it's become like this, I'll replace the whole thing with a new one for you.&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;... That's fine but, do you have the money?&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't think so lowly of me. I can do this much at least. I'll do it all tonight, so from tomorrow take a key around properly!&quot;&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> And, I stood up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> I worked at a moving company. I learnt enough about repairing things around a house that I can easily repair something like an apartment door. At the storage facility of the company I had worked at until 2 days ago there should at least be something like a stock door handle.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> With a vigor I could scarcely credit, I was running out into the night-time streets.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> How do I secretly enter the building when the police could catch me at any moment, I earnestly wonder, I realise that I'm on an extremely dangerous adventure.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> Really, I can't say anything about Ryougi.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> To be breaking into the company I had worked at for a girl I didn't even properly know the name of, I'm a pretty crazy person too.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66426 2010-05-26T15:57:10Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than the others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was because his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the 10 high-class mansions in the complex, the robbed house was the most exquisite.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had been reported. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a closed and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66425 2010-05-26T15:52:19Z

<p>Zwei7: translator is using the word &quot;that&quot; too much, please use another way to refer to things</p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than the others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was because his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the 10 high-class mansions in the complex, the robbed house was the most exquisite.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66424 2010-05-26T15:50:55Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than the others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was that his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the 10 high-class mansions in the complex, the robbed house was the most exquisite.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66423 2010-05-26T15:50:24Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was that his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the 10 high-class mansions in the complex, the robbed house was the most exquisite.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66422 2010-05-26T15:47:35Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy, whose teeth are chattering, is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is bare.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths have surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than themselves. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react quickly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he could with the tip of his foot. In contrast to Aikawa's light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about to break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit, over and over again. The one who can't last as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> My first opponent tries to counter. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With a *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed in the context between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From there I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking my opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or killers like them with none who do it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears, when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they used to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every movement this person makes to the very end. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty that did not belong in a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one now.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength left.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be taken by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like it was in slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds have passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the last one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it towards me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey you, wait!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of a very crude form of violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little strange.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and looked at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with such audacity that I couldn't even think straight. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic and reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66419 2010-05-26T15:09:49Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy, whose teeth are chattering, is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is bare.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths have surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than themselves. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react quickly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he could with the tip of his foot. In contrast to Aikawa's light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66418 2010-05-26T15:04:59Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy, whose teeth are chattering, is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is bare.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths have surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than themselves. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66417 2010-05-26T15:02:34Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy, whose teeth are chattering, is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is bare.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths have surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66416 2010-05-26T15:01:36Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy, whose teeth are chattering, is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is bare.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66226 2010-05-25T05:25:51Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy whose teeth are chattering is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is naked.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? We'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66225 2010-05-25T05:23:46Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy whose teeth are chattering is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is naked.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? we'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” to someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66224 2010-05-25T05:22:30Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy whose teeth are chattering is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is naked.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> One of the youths spoke, with a hint of contempt.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy, Tomoe, does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around him once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them. Like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could earn some money by robbing a former classmate who had quit high school. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> They couldn't react promptly after having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, Tomoe was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe makes sure before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of running towards the watchful eyes in front of the train station, he dove into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe's sprint, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The victim they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend, who has been taken down, is dripping blood from his mouth and on the ground.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared? we'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;'We'll kill him,' eh?&quot;<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They were serious. But they don't know what the true meaning of killing is. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” at someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that they are the five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. I'm faster. I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength and slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seen some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed between life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From thereafter I knee his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a non-resisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and endure is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin? A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the heavier sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Thinking only of that nameless figure, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual that person’s shadow standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> In this cold weather, the person was not wearing socks, but a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty hardly fit for a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. Dulled by the violence, they were so frenzied they decided they wanted this girl. They show their suppressed urges that they normally wouldn't show anyone and converge on the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My incapable arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> Can I stand by and let this kimono girl being defiled by these street punks? No---but can she really be tainted by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> &quot;Ooowah!&quot;, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Just above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me as I sit on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely have no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that it would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five people were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around herself.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me, who was leaning against the wall, with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But, by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't quite sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing awhile ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. &quot;Kukuk,&quot; I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that why you threw your shirt away because you got blood on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and pulling a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As she finally lost interest with this, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking vaguely and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's something supremely important written in Enjou Tomoe's mind.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see me.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one get to you is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Are you going to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch?! &quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with a strength I find strange for me to possess, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcerned person walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66220 2010-05-25T03:37:31Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy whose teeth are chattering is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is naked.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has he been here like this?<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> With a hint of contempt, one of the youths spoke.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy ? Tomoe does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around them once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could take some money from a former classmate who had quit high school to earn money. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> So they couldn't react promptly to having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, he was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe confirms before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of in front of the station where a lot of people walk, into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe starting to run away, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The person they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend who has been taken down is dripping blood from his mouth and fallen down.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared ? we'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> “We'll kill him,” eh?<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They are saying that honestly. But they are not thinking about the true meaning of what they said. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” at someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that there are five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. Faster than that, I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seeing some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed in a case of life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From there after I kick my knee into his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a nonresisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and stand the pain is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin. A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the bigger sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Able to think only that, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual the shadow of the person standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> That person in this cold weather was wearing without socks a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty that doesn't match a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. They who were numbed to the violence were so numb that they had decided that they wanted this girl. They show the suppressed side that they normally wouldn't show anyone and assault the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My beaten up arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> I can't stand this kimono girl being soiled by these street punks. No---but can that kid really be dirtied by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> Ooowah, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Only above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me who is sitting on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely has no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five humans were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around her.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me who was leaning against the wall with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing a bit ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be quite famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. Kukuk, I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that you threw away your shirt because blood got on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and putting a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As if with this she finally lost interest, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking that and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's written in Enjou Tomoe's mind that it's something supremely important.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one can see is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Or are you offering to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch!&quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with strength that would make me think I was strange, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcernedly walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_01&diff=66219 2010-05-25T03:34:34Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>'''/1 Paradox Spiral'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Even though October had just arrived, the roads were already chilly.<br /> <br /> The time is a little before 10 at night.<br /> <br /> The wind is cold, and the darkness of night is oppressive.<br /> <br /> Normally the roads should be plenty bright at this time, but tonight, they were so gloomy as to make one wonder whether the clocks were slow by an hour. The cold sky, from which it wouldn't be odd to see snow fall, makes one feel that the winter is arriving too quickly.<br /> <br /> Maybe it's because of that, but in front of this normally busy station there is none of the usual liveliness.<br /> <br /> The people coming out of the station are all wearing heavy overcoats and going straight home without stopping anywhere.<br /> <br /> The thing called a home, no matter how small it is, is a warm resting place. On a chilly day like this everyone quickens their feet in order to hurry home.<br /> <br /> The flowing people. The non-existent heat. The especially dark city streets.<br /> <br /> A boy was vacantly looking at such a scene.<br /> <br /> Next to a soda machine just beyond the street in front of the station. Sitting there as if hiding, the boy's gaze did not look normal.<br /> <br /> This boy who was hugging his legs, it would be impossible to tell his gender from just a quick look.<br /> <br /> A delicate face and a slender body. The dyed-red hair looks like it might be curly and has a bad texture. He looks 16, maybe 17 years old. His eyes that lack focus are nice and slender, and if he were wearing girl's clothing, he could easily be confused as being a girl.<br /> <br /> Even the clothing on this boy whose teeth are chattering is strange. Besides a dirty pair of jeans, he only has on a large blue blazer over his body. Under the jacket he is naked.<br /> <br /> As if he is resisting the cold---or maybe something else, his teeth chatter and make noise.<br /> <br /> How long has been here like this.<br /> <br /> Even though fewer and fewer people are coming out of the station, a group of youths has surrounded the boy.<br /> <br /> “Hey, Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> With a hint of contempt, one of the youths spoke.<br /> <br /> The boy with the red hair does not reply.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh. You brat, don't ignore me.”<br /> <br /> The youth forcefully grabs the boy's jacket and pulls him up.<br /> <br /> The one who spoke is about the same age as the boy. Indeed, around him are a group of five boys about the same age as him.<br /> <br /> “What is it, are we strangers now that you quit school? Oh, since Tomoe-sama is a man of society, he can no longer interact with children?”<br /> <br /> Hahaha, laughter erupts.<br /> <br /> But the boy ? Tomoe does not respond at all.<br /> <br /> With a “hmph,” the youth takes his hand off Tomoe's jacket and hits his cheek. An impact with a bam. Clink, the sound of something hitting the ground.<br /> <br /> “------.”<br /> <br /> “Don't fall asleep, you idiot.”<br /> <br /> With that the people around them once again start laughing.<br /> <br /> At that noise the boy Tomoe began to come back to life from a state of shock.<br /> <br /> “...Enjoh...Tomoe.”<br /> <br /> He mutters his own name. Tomoe, whose thought process had been stopped, had even forgotten his own name. Muttering his name is like a ritual to restart activity.<br /> <br /> Having come to his senses, Tomoe looks at the boy in front of him.<br /> <br /> A former classmate and his cohorts..<br /> <br /> He remembers them. Pretty regular students, not really delinquents, they are the type to bother people weaker than them like himself.<br /> <br /> “Oh, you're Aikawa. What are you doing here at a time like this?”<br /> <br /> “That's what we should say. I was worried that you might be selling your body. After all Tomoe is a tender girl.”<br /> <br /> The boy looks around at his comrades, saying “isn't that right?”<br /> <br /> Of course Tomoe is not a girl. When Tomoe was still in high school, due to his slender physique and his name, he was made fun of in that way.<br /> <br /> Tomoe does not reply in any way, and instead picks up an empty can.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa” he calls out the boy's name.<br /> <br /> Tomoe roughly pushes the can into that acne-filled face turning towards him.<br /> <br /> The can is stuck in the boy's mouth. At that state, Tomoe hits the can with his palm.<br /> <br /> “Ugh.”<br /> <br /> The boy falls down immediately. The can that he coughs out is smeared with blood.<br /> <br /> Dumbfounded, the boy's comrades still haven't moved yet.<br /> <br /> They were just thinking that they could take some money from a former classmate who had quit high school to earn money. They could use violence, but they never thought that Tomoe would too.<br /> <br /> So they couldn't react promptly to having their comrade get hit and fall down.<br /> <br /> “Aikawa, you're as stupid as ever.”<br /> <br /> Saying that, Enjou Tomoe kicked the fallen boy's head. As if he were playing soccer, as hard as he can with the tip of his foot. In contrast to his light-hearted tone, he was acting as if he was trying to kill.<br /> <br /> The boy cannot move any more. Maybe he has fainted or maybe his neck is broken. -He couldn't get up due to the pain, Tomoe confirms before running away.<br /> <br /> Instead of in front of the station where a lot of people walk, into a back alley.<br /> <br /> Seeing Tomoe starting to run away, the others finally understood the situation.<br /> <br /> The person they were trying to rob has beaten up a comrade and run away. Their friend who has been taken down is dripping blood from his mouth and fallen down.<br /> <br /> “That bastard, he wasn't even scared ? we'll kill him!”<br /> <br /> As someone says that, the fury spread to the remaining five members. They started running in order to catch up to him and take revenge.<br /> <br /> <br /> &lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 300%;&quot;&gt;&lt;center&gt;* * *&lt;/center&gt;&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> “We'll kill him,” eh?<br /> <br /> Hearing their shout, I couldn't help but laugh.<br /> <br /> They are saying that honestly. But they are not thinking about the true meaning of what they said. That someone that unprepared would say “we'll kill you” at someone who just did what I did, how rash an act.<br /> <br /> -I just killed someone before coming here.<br /> <br /> Squish squish squish. The feeling of stabbing a human returns, and I felt like I was about to throw up.<br /> <br /> As that thought comes up, my body starts to shake again. My teeth chatter so hard they're about the break and a storm is going through my head.<br /> <br /> They don't know what it means to kill someone. It's because they don't know that they can say something like that.<br /> <br /> -in that case, I'll teach it to them.<br /> <br /> With my mind cleared, I crack a smile.<br /> <br /> I don't have a particularly violent personality. I believe in giving out as much as I take, but today is the first time I made someone faint like that. I was strange tonight. ...no, if that's not right, maybe I want to become strange.<br /> <br /> -here should be good.<br /> <br /> I enter an alley between two buildings, far enough from the main road that you couldn't call for help.<br /> <br /> They catch up to me.<br /> <br /> No, to be exact, I let them catch up to me.<br /> <br /> Stopping at this discreet back alley, after making sure that there are five who followed me in here, I attacked the first enemy who came forth.<br /> <br /> With my palm I hit my opponent's chin. When novices fight it goes back and forth, hitting and getting hit over and over again. The one who can't endure as long is the one that gets defeated. I know that if I get into a fight like that, I have no chance of winning. Therefore - if I want to win, I have to fight like I want to kill.<br /> <br /> I don't even pay attention to the situation. Before the others can jump in, before I can be surrounded, I have to take care of them one by one.<br /> <br /> The one who was hit tries to hit me. Faster than that, I stab his left eye with my finger.<br /> <br /> &quot;Uh... Uaaaaa!&quot;<br /> <br /> He screams in pain. Given this opening, I grab his face and with all my strength slam the back of his head against a wall.<br /> <br /> With *puck,* the first guy slowly falls against the wall. Blood comes out of one of his eyes. The back of his head is leaving a bloodstain on the wall.<br /> <br /> -despite all that, he's still alive.<br /> <br /> At that horrible sight, the other four guys lose their excitement and just stand there. They may have done some fighting and seeing some blood, but this is the first time they've seen bloodshed in a case of life and death.<br /> <br /> At that opening, I jump at the one closest to me.<br /> <br /> After hitting him with my palm, I grab his hair. I pull his head down and kick my knee upwards. I feel his nose break against my kneecap. With that blow, he loses his will to retaliate.<br /> <br /> From there after I kick my knee into his face three more times, I slam down my elbow onto the back of his head.<br /> <br /> With the impact, I feel a tingle run up my arm from my elbow.<br /> <br /> The second one was down.<br /> <br /> My knee that kept kicking the opponent's face is soaked with his blood.<br /> <br /> &quot;Enjoh, you bastard-!&quot;<br /> <br /> Two people. With two people incapacitated it seems the rest of them finally understand what they're into. The three of them come at me all at once without any reason or leadership.<br /> <br /> In that case, the outcome was clear.<br /> <br /> Being alone, I can't take on three people at once.<br /> <br /> Getting hit and kicked, I'm mercilessly slammed against the wall before falling to the ground.<br /> <br /> I get hit hard on the cheek. Kicked in the stomach. Still, with cold eyes I see that they can't commit as much violence as I had.<br /> <br /> -are these three just going to beat up a nonresisting human.<br /> <br /> This violence definitely has no killing intent. However, if this keeps up, I will eventually die. Even if the impacts are not fatal, they will eventually reach my heart. That I have to wait until then and stand the pain is the pain of pains.<br /> <br /> -look. Even without meaning to kill, it is easy for a human to kill another human.<br /> <br /> Is that a sin. A killer like me with a clear killing intent, or a killer like them with no purpose who does it by accident, I wonder which is the bigger sin.<br /> <br /> Thinking such things with my dizzy mind, I kept getting hit.<br /> <br /> My face and my whole body became covered by bruises, and I began to get used to the pain. Probably they too have become so used to hitting that they can't stop. <br /> <br /> &quot;You're quite something, with that cute face of yours, Enjou!&quot;<br /> <br /> At that moment, I was hit in the chest and started coughing. Either the inside of my mouth was ripped through the beating or it came from my stomach. Mixed in my saliva was something like blood.<br /> <br /> Even though these three people have no such intent, if this continues for a few more seconds, Enjou Tomoe will be dead.<br /> <br /> ...I realized just then. That I didn't consider my own life to be very important.<br /> <br /> Just as my vision disappears when one of their fists hits one of my eyes, my consciousness is about to disappear as well. At that very moment-.<br /> <br /> <br /> Clatter.<br /> <br /> <br /> I heard a beautiful noise.<br /> <br /> Completely different from the dullness of hitting a person, a small and marble-like noise.<br /> <br /> The three stop their movements and turn towards the direction of the noise... the narrow entrance that they had entered in order to get into this alleyway.<br /> <br /> I barely open my swollen eyes and look at the person.<br /> <br /> &quot;----.&quot;<br /> <br /> My mind, is frozen.<br /> <br /> Able to think only that, I cannot take my eyes off this person.<br /> <br /> That's how unusual the shadow of the person standing at the entrance of the alleyway was.<br /> <br /> That person in this cold weather was wearing without socks a pair of round Japanese clogs. The varnished black bottom and the red strings making the white feet look even more beautiful, it was a sight to leave you speechless.<br /> <br /> No, that's not the only special thing.<br /> <br /> That person was wearing an orange kimono. It's not fancy holiday clothing, but rather the simple kind of kimono you see often in festivals. Covering that is a red leather jacket.<br /> <br /> Clatter- the sound is made again.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 395===--&gt;<br /> And then the sound of feet hitting the ground. The person draws towards us step by step. The swaying hair, the sound of rustling clothing- I realize that my eyes want to take in every last movement this person makes. Without concern for my - Enjou Tomoe's thoughts.<br /> <br /> The shadow approaches in a natural manner, as if nothing has happened.<br /> <br /> The black hair, black as if doused in ink, doesn't even reach the shoulders. It has been cut carelessly, but somehow it fits this person. <br /> <br /> A narrow face and frame. White skin and---eyes so black they seem to look into your soul. A beauty that doesn't match a dirty back alley.<br /> <br /> That person somehow looked like a woman. .....no, she looks about the same age as us, so maybe I should call her a girl.<br /> <br /> The face is so neat that I can't tell the gender. Of course, no matter which it is, there's no doubt that this person is so beautiful that it would send a chill down your spine. But for some reason I thought that it was a female.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl spoke in a blunt manner that was a mix of Japanese and Western style.<br /> <br /> After looking at this direction with an annoyed look, the girl comes towards us for no reason.<br /> <br /> The three guy surrounding me were puzzled and started surrounding the girl. They who were numbed to the violence were so numb that they had decided that they wanted this girl. They show the suppressed side that they normally wouldn't show anyone and assault the girl.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 396===--&gt;<br /> &quot;You got some business with us?&quot;<br /> <br /> They say while walking. Seeing them surround her as to not let her get away, it seems that their three minds have become one.<br /> <br /> Those dirty cowards, I swear, but I can't do anything. My beaten up arms and legs are filled with bruises and don't have any strength.<br /> <br /> I can't stand this kimono girl being soiled by these street punks. No---but can that kid really be dirtied by these guys?<br /> <br /> &quot;We asked you if you had some business with us. You have ears, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> One of them comes right up close to her and yells.<br /> <br /> Instead of replying, she raised one of her hands in whichever way.<br /> <br /> ...what happened after that was truly like magic.<br /> <br /> With her thin arm the girl grabs his arm. She pulls with no effort. As if he were weightless, the boy spins around in a full circle and falls to the ground head first.<br /> <br /> Maybe that's one of those judo throws. The movement was very quick, but it was so natural that it looked like slow motion.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 397===--&gt;<br /> The other two leap at the girl. She pushes one of their chests with her palm, and with just that her opponent was down. Even though it took me so much violence just to knock out one guy, this girl made two people lose consciousness without a single wasted move. I hazard about 5 seconds has passed.<br /> <br /> Just like how I realized this fact, it seems the one left over also realized that his opponent wasn't ordinary.<br /> <br /> Ooowah, he screamed while beginning to flee.<br /> <br /> The girl kicked the head of the one who turned his back to flee. The clean roundhouse kick didn't even make noise and knocked out the remaining one.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hmph, he was a rockhead, what an idiot.&quot;<br /> <br /> Muttering, the girl fixes up her wrinkled kimono.<br /> <br /> I'm speechless as I just stare at her.<br /> <br /> -in this trash-filled back alley where no streetlight or moonlight shines. Only above her head it looked like a silver sparkle was pouring out.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you.&quot;<br /> <br /> The girl looks in my direction. I tried to say something, but with my mouth all cut up I decided to keep my mouth shut.<br /> <br /> The girl reached inside a pocket in her leather jacket, pulled out a key, and threw it at me. A worn key falls in front of me who is sitting on the floor.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 398===--&gt;<br /> &quot;I picked it up. It's yours, right?&quot;<br /> <br /> It sounded like it was coming from inside my brain.<br /> <br /> ......key. Ah, maybe I dropped it while getting hit a while ago.<br /> <br /> The home key for which I have absolutely no use anymore. Did this girl come here just to give it to me.<br /> <br /> Just then, the girl turned around as if she was all done here.<br /> <br /> There were no words of goodbye, no words of acknowledgement.<br /> <br /> Just like when she found us she walks out as if she's out taking a walk. ......as if she has no interest in me.<br /> <br /> &quot;---wait.&quot;<br /> <br /> I say, and my hand moves.<br /> <br /> To grab what? Why am I trying to catch her? I definitely---Enjou Tomoe definitely has no interest in a scary woman like her.<br /> <br /> But---but, I couldn't stand her leaving me like this. I didn't care who it was, I didn't want to be thrown away. I couldn't stand the feeling of being told that I had no redeeming qualities, that I was really nothing more than a fake.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you!&quot;<br /> <br /> Yelling, I get up. ......no, I tried to get up, but I couldn't stand up properly. Because my joints had no strength, all I could do was grab the wall and keep myself up in an unstable position.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 399===--&gt;<br /> The girl in a kimono stopped, and looked at me with a vision so cold that would make anyone scream out.<br /> <br /> &quot;What is it? I didn't pick up anything else.&quot;<br /> <br /> She speaks calmly.<br /> <br /> Even though five humans were lying at her feet, it seemed that this person felt nothing.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hey, you weren't thinking of just leaving like this?&quot;<br /> <br /> After I spoke while gasping for breath, she finally looked around her.<br /> <br /> Among the fallen ones there are two whom I injured and are now bleeding. They are the result of very crude violence.<br /> <br /> After saying hm, she looked up at me.<br /> <br /> &quot;Don't worry, that guy might not be able to use his eye, but that's not enough to kill him. The one who comes to first will probably do something. But do you still think they need help right now?&quot;<br /> <br /> Even though the thin and high voice could only belong to a woman, the way of speaking is that of a man.<br /> <br /> Yes, I reply and nod.<br /> <br /> &quot;Really? But in that case, which do we need to call? The police? Or the hospital?&quot;<br /> <br /> She asks sincerely, although something was a little queer.<br /> <br /> I was only thinking about the hospital, but if I want to claim self defense, calling the police might be faster. But---<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 400===--&gt;<br /> &quot;The police, are out of the question.&quot;<br /> <br /> Why? The girl asks with her eyes.<br /> <br /> Why is that. It was a secret that I definitely shouldn't tell anyone, but considering it like using an emergency card, I spoke.<br /> <br /> &quot;I killed someone.&quot;<br /> <br /> For a moment, it was as if time had stopped.<br /> <br /> After coming towards me as if taking interest, the girl began to carefully inspect me who was leaning against the wall with her eyes.<br /> <br /> &quot;It doesn't look like it.&quot;<br /> <br /> She says as if she doesn't believe me. But by the way she put her finger to her mouth and thought to herself, it seemed that she wasn't sure.<br /> <br /> I continue my masochistic confession.<br /> <br /> &quot;It's true. I came after killing a bit ago. I stabbed the stomach with a kitchen knife and I cut the throat. How can someone stay alive after that. ...heh heh, right now the cops are probably at my house looking for me frantically. Yes, by dawn, I'll probably be quite famous---!&quot;<br /> <br /> When I realized what I was doing, I was laughing at myself. Kukuk, I hear my laughter. ....for some reason, it sounded like crying.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 401===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Alright. In that case I believe you. Then don't bother calling the hospital either. You'll be put into jail right there. ...ah, is it that you threw away your shirt because blood got on it? I just thought it was a fad nowadays.&quot;<br /> <br /> Cold hands rub against my chest.<br /> <br /> &quot;---look.&quot;<br /> <br /> I swallowed my breath. As this girl said the clothing I was wearing had been covered with blood. I had run away after just putting on a pair of pants and putting a blazer over my shoulders.<br /> <br /> ...I know. That even though this girl knows that I am a murderer, she feels no surprise. That's making me feel even more uncomfortable.<br /> <br /> &quot;Aren't you scared? I killed someone. Killing one person, killing two people, they're the same. Do you think I'll let you go when you know the truth?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---killing one person and killing two people are different.&quot;<br /> <br /> Squinting as if dissatisfied, the girl in a kimono put her face up close.<br /> <br /> .....even though I am taller by a head, I feel like I'm looking up at her who is looking up at me.<br /> <br /> Captivated by her black eyes, I swallowed my saliva.<br /> <br /> The reason I swallowed is not that our roles were reversed.<br /> <br /> It's just that, I was enraptured.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 402===--&gt;<br /> Until now I have never fallen for another human being. Having lived for 17 years I have never been captivated like this. Not once did I forget myself and was this moved.<br /> <br /> <br /> ---that's right. This much.<br /> :I have never felt that a human was beautiful.<br /> <br /> <br /> &quot;Really---I'm a murderer.&quot;<br /> <br /> I can't say anything but that.<br /> <br /> The girl lowered her head and started laughing.<br /> <br /> &quot;I know. Because I'm one too.&quot;<br /> <br /> The clothes make noise as they rub against each other.<br /> <br /> As if with this she finally lost interest, she begins to leave.<br /> <br /> She leaves, making only the noise clatter clatter.<br /> <br /> ...I did not want to lose sight of her back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Wait, you said you were one too!&quot;<br /> <br /> Trying to run after her, I fall to the floor again. Still, I barely managed to get up and look at the girl who was looking back.<br /> <br /> &quot;Then help me. We're in the same circumstance, after all.&quot;<br /> <br /> I was yelling with an audaciousness that I wouldn't even think about normally. Being desperate, I throw shame to the wind. Listening to my words that lack logic or reason, the girl looks at me with her eyes open wide in surprise.<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 403===--&gt;<br /> &quot;Same circumstance....hm, you're definitely completely empty. But, asking for help, what are you talking about? About the sin of killing a human? Or to fix the injuries on your body? I'm sorry, but neither are my specialties.&quot;<br /> <br /> ---ah, that's right.<br /> <br /> What kind of help did I want?<br /> <br /> I wanted help, but I was only thinking that and I didn't know what kind of help I wanted. .....even though it's written in Enjou Tomoe's mind that it's something supremely important.<br /> <br /> &quot;----People will see this soon. Hide me before that.&quot;<br /> <br /> That's the very first thing.<br /> <br /> The girl entered thought with a very human movement, completely opposite from how she acted until now.<br /> <br /> &quot;Hide you, are you asking me to offer a hiding place?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;I just need you to lend me a hand until I get to a place where no one can see.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;There's no such place in this city. The only place where no one can see is your own home.<br /> <br /> She speaks with an awkward expression. I know at least that much.<br /> <br /> Maybe my mind became impatient due to the pain of getting beat, but I wanted to yell.<br /> <br /> &quot;That's why I'm asking for help! Or are you offering to let me stay at your house, you stupid bitch!&quot;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ===Page 404===--&gt;<br /> Shit, I swear. With that, the girl nods as if understanding.<br /> <br /> &quot;Alright. If where I'm staying is fine with you, use it as you please.&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;---what?&quot;<br /> <br /> &quot;What a simpleton, to ask for help with something like that.&quot;<br /> <br /> She starts to walk. Without holding a hand out for me or offering a shoulder. <br /> <br /> Even so, her back told me to follow.<br /> <br /> I---with strength that would make me think I was strange, followed behind her.<br /> <br /> By doing that I could cleanly forget the injuries on my beaten body, the injuries on my mind from stabbing a person.<br /> <br /> I just keep following that unconcernedly walking back.<br /> <br /> Does this girl live alone, I haven't even asked for her name, even though there are many things I have to ask her, I can't think.<br /> <br /> ......that's right, probably. I have never believed anything until now, but this might be what they call fate.<br /> <br /> Already my eyes couldn't see anything but her.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Translator's Note ==<br /> <br /> *You'll notice that I switch from present to past tense a lot in this. This is done by me to preserve the way it was written in the Korean translation. It's definitely a bit odd, so if anyone's editing, I don't think it would be bad to change everything to past or everything to present tense in order to keep consistent. I'm guessing that this strange way of mixing past and present tense was in the original Japanese, because there is no reason for the translator to do this.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66218 2010-05-25T03:30:56Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi has become so that he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was that his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the 10 high-class mansions in the complex, the robbed house was the most exquisite.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66217 2010-05-25T03:29:49Z

<p>Zwei7: </p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi has become so that he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story, that no one would normally be interested in, had gotten into his hands was that his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the more than 10 mansions in the complex, the robbed house had been the most high-class.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7 https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Kara_no_Kyoukai:Chapter05_0&diff=66216 2010-05-25T03:29:06Z

<p>Zwei7: reworded order of the words to be more natural</p> <hr /> <div>Autumn was short this year.<br /> <br /> With November having passed and winter about to come, Officer Akimi encountered a strange ghost story.<br /> <br /> At a workplace, which is second only to a hospital in number of deaths encountered, there is no seasonal time for ghost stories. It is normal that such stories come up year-round with no end.<br /> <br /> Naturally, Officer Akimi has become so that he wouldn't bat an eyelash at most stories, but this story was of a different level than others. Anyway, something was recorded in an official report that could only be interpreted as a ghost story. The reason that this story that no one would normally be interested in had gotten into his hands was that his love for mysteries was famous.<br /> <br /> That event was concluded to be a false report made by a robber who was wrong in the head.<br /> <br /> The contents were rather simple. At the end of October, at a housing complex close to the heart of the city, there had been a robbery. The inhabitants of the house had been away at the time, and among the more than 10 mansions in the complex, the robbed house had been the most high-class.<br /> <br /> The robber was someone with a previous criminal record. He was not the type to plan beforehand, but rather someone who suddenly decided to take the opportunity when the house was empty. It is said that the robber went into an empty mansion, took a quick look around, and went into a house that looked like no one was home.<br /> <br /> The problem was that a few minutes later, the robber ran to the nearest police station and asked for help.<br /> <br /> The robber was in shock and couldn't explain properly, but he had found everyone in that home had been left dead. The policeman who was there followed the robber back to the house. However, contrary to what the robber had said, the members of the house were all alive and enjoying a nice family dinner.<br /> <br /> The robber was perplexed, and when the policeman found out that he had broken into an empty house, he was arrested.<br /> <br /> “Geez, what is this?”<br /> <br /> Having briefly skimmed the report, Officer Akimi muttered to himself on his squeaky chair.<br /> <br /> It was definitely a strange story, but it really wasn't especially worth remembering.<br /> <br /> The report said that the robber hadn't used alcohol or drugs, and there wasn't anything wrong with his mental condition. To get arrested while making a false report, it was definitely a rare event.<br /> <br /> He didn't have time to waste on such a boring and closed case - it was a stretch to even call it a case.<br /> <br /> Right now, he was as busy as he was three years ago. In fact, the current disappearance cases were enough to make him suspect that this was the second coming of the case three years ago. It was not very well known, but since October, four people had already disappeared. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the families of the victims quiet.<br /> <br /> In such a situation, he couldn't waste time with a story like this. He couldn't, but for some reason, it appealed to him.<br /> <br /> “Shit.”<br /> <br /> Muttering to himself, he picked up the phone. The place he was calling was the station where the case had taken place. The phone was answered immediately, and Officer Akimi started to ask detailed questions about the case.<br /> <br /> Whether they had checked with the neighbors of the &quot;family of corpses&quot; the robber had mentioned, whether there had been any inconsistencies in the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> As expected, the reply was that they had indeed checked with the neighbors and that besides the fact that it was completely false, there was nothing of note about the robber's description of the bodies.<br /> <br /> He thanked the person and hung up. Just then, there was a noise behind his back.<br /> <br /> “What are you doing, Daisuke? Hurry up, a second body has been found.”<br /> <br /> “Already? By the way you say it, I'm assuming it was also left partly eaten?”<br /> <br /> Officer Akimi stood up and quickly switched his train of thought. No matter how much this case bothered him, it was already a finished event and not something he needed to take care of urgently.<br /> <br /> In this way, even Officer Akimi, who was known to be supremely eccentric, forgot about this case.</div>

Zwei7