Mushi:Vol1 Ch2

Night 2: The 15th November Incident

She had nothing important to her.

Or maybe she did, in the past. But not anymore.

A millennium – it seemed so long to live for, yet so short to destroy. Happy memories, hopes, miracles; all these warm, gentle feelings would gradually fade with the ebb of time, until in the end, the only thing left was a cold, empty void. An empty shell, containing nothing but an Apple, stored within the void in her body. There was no reason for her to continue living, except living itself. She was like an ageless monster - how could she ever be called a human?

That’s why, she couldn’t smile.

Because there wasn’t a single happy, blissful or treasured memory, for her to smile at.

Something that did not smile, that did not have something important in life – could such a thing be regarded human?

“Who are you? What are you planning to do?”

-- As usual, whenever such a question was asked, she would find her words stuck in her throat.

Her shoelaces weren’t tied well. That was to be expected – after all, it was a long time since she engaged in such a pointless activity. Gankyuu Eguriko stood before Kannonsakazaki Private High School’s shoe closet, withdrew a pair of indoor shoes, and proceeded to sit on the wooded floor to tie up her laces in a butterfly knot. After trying for 10 minutes, though, she still couldn’t get it right. She could vaguely remember being good at it once, but she couldn’t remember how to tie it right.

The only memories she had in her memory bank were ones filled with intolerable anguish, which seemed to pin her down with feelings of helplessness. That was why Guriko always tried to forget her past.

There was still quite some time before school began, as evident by the empty stairways. In order to practice her butterfly knots, Guriko made it a point to come to school earlier. No matter how hard she tried, though, her shoelaces never resembled anything other than a pile of upsetted noodles, which left Guriko deeply disheartened. She never even realized when “he” stood before her.

Focusing on tying her shoelaces with her head bended low, it wasn’t until she was covered by his shadow did she realize someone was standing before her. Guriko slowly raised her head.

It was a tall man, with a handsome face. It was the first time Guriko had seen someone with such perfect features, but even then, appeared aloof and indifferent. Being an immortal, she didn’t need something like attraction or infatuation of the opposite sex, nor did she need petty little things like love – those feelings she once had were now long gone.

However, she found herself shuddering involuntarily.

She didn’t know why.

“…… Are you waiting for me?”

Guriko said silently. It was such an un-cute reaction.

She had left behind all her cute, innocent, Usagawa-Rinne-like reactions, a long, long time ago.

“I never thought you would be here this early. Having problems with your shoelaces?”

The man – Sakaki Guryuu, shifted his gaze down to Guriko’s messed up, noodle-like shoelaces. He then kneeled down, swiftly untied her shoelaces, and gracefully whipped by a butterfly knot.

He then looked up at Guriko (who had sat up straight by now), and said coldly, “Don’t you even know such basic things?”

“S-shut up! Why are you here?”

Damn it, Guriko thought. She never would have imagined being saved by this guy, and for a second there, she was actually slightly happy. Even though she knew that being nice with this guy wouldn’t bring her any good.

Even though she knew that it was impossible to be friends with him.

Even though she knew that no matter how much, how often she wished for it, it was impossible for feelings to surface.

This was something Guriko was very clear with.

Guriko shifted her gaze from Sakaki’s face, and lowered her head. Sakaki immediately stood up, his chest puffed up and back bended backwards in an arrogant stance, and looked at Guriko.

“Like I said earlier, I want to know who you really are, what you really want and why are you really doing this.”

It was a smooth, clear yet loud voice. It was the voice of a dominator, a person who was clearly a class above others.

Guriko didn’t feel the slightest bit intimidated, though.

“There’s no need for you to know.”

“Even so, you still have to talk… Don’t make me use brute force.”

“You think you can actually beat me?”

Oh boy, what a bother.

Why did I say something like that?

Guriko slowly hoisted her sailor-uniform-clad body up, glaring at Sakaki’s face. Sakaki returned her glare with an intense, fiery, emerald stare.

People with beautiful eyes would always end up being beautiful.

Guriko averted her gaze and picked up her bag.

“…… Why do you want to know? Are you curious? Or interested?”

“Neither. I’m doing this out of love and commitment.”

“…… You’re worried about Usagawa Rinne?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…”

What a resolve. How could he afford to answer so willingly?

Did he really love her that much?

Guriko gave him a small smile.

“…… How admirable. Both you and Usagawa.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m talking to myself.”

With that said, Guriko looked at Sakaki, and said in her pure voice, “Instead of being cautious towards me, why not you be on the lookout for ‘Mushi’ instead? I didn’t manage to kill Usagawa, and won’t ever attempt to again. Those ‘Mushi’, on the other hand, won’t give up the Apple so easily.”

“Mushi…”

“Yes.”

Mushi – the name of the enemy.

Guriko put on a stern face and stared at Sakaki, as if trying to bore a hole in him with her gaze.

“Those guys are ‘Mushi’ – not only are they everywhere, they will stop at no cost to achieve their goal.”

Don’t let your guard down – That was what Guriko silently thought.