ShinSekai Yori:Part 4 Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I am engulfed in noise. The slow grating of chairs being pulled back. The rhythmic beat of footsteps on wooden floors. The vibrations of students running and hopping about. The 'shuuu shuuu' of steam rising from the kettle atop the stove in the middle of the room.

Voices speaking with curious intonations. The din of laughter. Conversations that sounded muffled as though I were listening from underwater. A low muttering the source of which I could not determine.

The words of each individual should have contained the meaning they wished to convey to the recipient. But, when the voices of so many people are combined, they all get mixed up. It comes to be no more than meaningless noise, filling the air like the buzzing of bees.

If the thoughts of everyone present here were by some chance given voices I could hear, the result might be much the same. While the thoughts of each individual may have distinct meanings, this directionality is lost when all of them are combined, turning it into nothing more than annoying chaotic noise. All of it, just like the leakage of Jyuryoku.

I was bewildered by these words that came to mind without any apparent logical connection. Leakage...... What exactly was that about.

""Saki. Why are you spacing out?""

Thick letters were floating above the notebook. The square within the "What"(何) changed into "Eye"(目) as it appears in "Manga"(漫画), and winked at me as the (の) character grinned. I looked back and saw Maria watching me with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

"I was just thinking about something."

"I could guess that much. Was it about Ryo?"

"Ryo?"

I, raised my eyebrows. I would not have expected it but, Maria seemed to have gotten the wrong idea.

"You don't have to hide it. Your worried about whether he'll choose you or not right? It's okay. Because Ryo, is most certainly crazy about Saki"

Inaba Ryo. Childhood friend, energetic and vigorous boy. Always central among us, he possessed a certain Leadership that pulled others along. But...... unexpectedly, I was hit by a feeling that something was out of place. I wonder what it is about him.

"Isn't Ryo in group two. Why would he be choosing me?"

"What are you talking about now?"

Maria burst out with laughter.

"Wasn't that just at the very beginning? Hasn't he been a part of everything we've done together since entering group one?"

That's right. Ryo had become a part of our group along the way. The reason being that while group two had six members, our group one had Only Had Four Members From The Beginning. But, why was the number of people in our group small to begin with?......

"Saki. What's up? Your acting a little strange"

Maria placed her hand on my forehead as if to check whether I had a fever. While doing this, she took advantage of my lack of attention, silently leaning over to kiss me without warning.

"That's enough already"

I averted my eyes in confusion. No one seemed to have been looking in our direction but, I still felt strangely embarrassed.

"Look, you're cheering up already"

Maria said absentmindedly.

"It's not like I particularly wanted you to do that kind of thing."

"But there is someone in particular you do want to do that with now isn't there?"

"I wasn't thinking anything of the sort!"

"You two always get along so well"

The boy who had shown up behind Maria, was Ryo himself. I felt my face unintentionally becoming red. As I wondered if Maria would misunderstand or not, more and more blood went to my head.

"We love each other very much. You jealous?"

Maria said as she drew herself closer to my chest while I was sitting.

"Speaking honestly, a little bit."

"Of whom?"

"Both of you I suppose"

"You lie"

Simply put, Ryo was tall, cheerful, and loved by everyone, an existence one could not help but acknowledge.

On the other hand however, he was not the type to consider things deeply. I don't by any means mean that he was stupid but, the way he only responded superficially regardless of the topic at hand left something to be desired. In regard to Jyuryoku, It was not as if he were particularly outstanding.....

Again, I was getting that feeling that something was out of place. Who exactly was it that I was comparing Ryo to?

"Saki. Afternoon lessons begin before, can we talk for a bit?"

Ryo was calling me out.

"hmmmm. I'm sure you'll be quite happy once the interlopers are out of the way."

While floating through the air, Maria turned about as though doing a pirouette in the air, her red hair casually fluttering as she did so.

"Mamoru has always had eyes only for you."

Ryo said to Maria's retreating figure.

"But he seems to have been feeling uneasy ever since he learned how overwhelmingly you took first place in that popularity contest."

"Giggling' I suppose being too popular can be problematic too."

While Maria floated about like some whimsical dragonfly, Ryo turned back towards me.

"It's noisy in here, shall we head outside?"

"I don't mind"

I had no reason to decline. Ryo stood up first and I followed behind him as we exited the classroom. But, when it looked as though he would turn left at the end of the corridor, I felt shocked.

"Wait. I don't want to go that way."

"Why?"

Ryo turned back, a curious look on his face.

"That is...... What is it that you want to do over there?"

I myself did not fully understand why I didn't want to go that direction.

"No one ever comes this way, so I figured it would be a quiet place to talk. See, it's because the entrance to the courtyard is just ahead of us."

That was it. The Courtyard...... I felt very that it would be very bad to approach the courtyard. Why did I loathe the courtyard to such an extent. I did not even understand it myself.

"Before that, why not go outside? The weather is nice so it should feel good."

"Hmm? Okay."

We turned right at the end of the corridor, leaving the campus. The weather was certainly nice but, the Winter sunlight was weak, and the air quite chilly. Ryo too shivered and rubbed his arms. He must certainly think me to be the kind of woman prone to whim or unaffected by cold now.

"About the Duty Teams, I figured I would choose you Saki."

Ryo got straight to the point.

"Thanks"

Not knowing what kind of reaction would be best, I took the safe route with an expression of gratitude.

"Is that all?"

Ryo seemed like he was somewhat disappointed.

"What do you mean 'Is that all'?"

"How do you feel about it Saki? I just wanted to hear if you were planning to choose me as well is all."

Ryo persistently pressed the frontal attack.

"I……"

This winter, all of the students of every grade were divided into two member Duty Groups. Usually pairs consisted of a boy and a girl, but if the total number of students was odd or one gender more numerous than the other in a class, the occasional 3-person group or same-sex pairing was also a possible occurrence.

Officially, the only role of the Duty Groups was to preform the daily preparatory work for various activities but, in any case, groups continued to be established one by one as boy-girl pairs agreed to nominate one another. As far as the students were concerned, this was nothing but an official event for the purpose of love confessions.

It seems to have been an unmistakable fact that, at that time, even our romantic relations were controlled by the school. I feel that this is the reason why the word "当番"(Touban) even came to be used. The normal definition of 'to bear work in turn' exists but, if one looks the characters up in a Kanji Dictionary, the meaning 'Pair/Couple' can also be found for the character '番'(ban). Considering the degree of simple obsession the Ethics Committee and Board of Education have where Kanji are concerned, this might not necessarily be all that far fetched.

"I'm sorry. I still haven't decided."

With Ryo being so straightforward, I also answered frankly.

"You haven't decided? Is there someone else you have in mind?"

Ryo said in a worried sounding voice.

"No. No one in particular, but....."

Without knowing why, Satoru's face came to mind, but I quickly rejected the thought. A friend close to my heart though he might be, I could not think of him as a romantic partner.

"Why do you want to choose me Ryo?"

"Isn't that kind of thing obvious?"

Ryo, said with ample confidence.

"It's because I thought that up 'till now, I've always been looking at no one else but you Saki.

"Always? At what point did you begin to feel that way?"

"At what point you ask? That isn't the kind of thing that one decides on at some distinct point in time is it? But, If I must say something.....hmm."

Ryo's facial expression quickly changed to uncertainty.

"I'm not really certain but, I think it might be the time that we went to Summer Camp together."

Within my mind, the sight of the whole sky filled with stars was revived.

"What part of our time at summer camp do you still remember most clearly?"

"That would be.... all of it. Rowing the canoe together. Ah, wasn't there a time when you became so fascinated with the scenery that you almost fell into the river? I reached out and caught hold of your hand just in time to stop it. It was truly chilly back then too."

I frowned. Did something like that really happen? Moreover, we were involved in a life-threatening adventure during summer camp but, spent most of that time separated from one another. Speaking of shared memories, wouldn't it be normal for us both to remember that first evening, or else the time when we were reunited?

"What about Night Canoeing?"

"Night Canoeing?"

Somehow, nothing seemed to come to him immediately.

"That's right. That was fun."

That was fun...... I did not want to hear the precious memories we created that night summed up with so simple a single word.

As we were returning to the classroom, we happened to pass Satoru. I saw mixed feelings in Satoru's eyes as he looked in this direction. The thing his eyes were fixed on however was not me. Although this was not particularly strange. The reason being that, though it was only for a short time, Satoru once had a romantic relationship with Ryo.

However, what showed in Satoru's eyes at the time I saw them, surprised me greatly.* They was no emotional entanglement of jealousy and love. But what seemed to be the very image of pure incomprehension. His eyes had the look of a person who truly cannot comprehend the being before him.

That night I had a dream filled with many chaotic and incoherent things. Most of these things were forgotten the moment I awoke but, the final scene alone had been strongly burned into my mind.

I was standing in a dimly lit deserted location. In my hands I held a bouquet of flowers. I came to realize that this place was the school's inner courtyard. For some reason, for as far as I could see, there was nothing but a countless number of gravestones. I strained my eyes with all of my might but, no matter how hard I tried, the gloomy darkness prevented me from clearly making out the letters carved into them.

I placed the bouquet at the base of the gravestone closest to me. Although still brand new, the stone was already weathering, melting away into the ground. It's lettering too had already crumbled to such an extent that I could not possibly make it out.

As I looked at it in that state, loneliness pressed into me as though a gaping hole had opened in my heart.

"Have I already vanished from your memories?"

Someone had come and was speaking to me. The voice was that of a boy. That voice sounded terribly familiar, but I could not tell who it belonged to.

"I'm sorry. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to remember."

"Hmm...... If that's how it is, I guess it can't be helped."

I turn my head back towards the source of the voice but, could not see anyone there.

"Where are you? Let me see your face."

"But I have no face."

As he quietly informed me of that, I remembered feeling sorrow without limit. Is that so...... he already had no face.

"But, my face is one that you should know well."

"I don't understand. I can't remember."

"That, is not your fault."

The voice continued speaking affectionately.

"It's because after I was buried, someone scraped the letters off the gravestones."

"Who? Why would they do such a thing?"

"Try looking over there. Everyone is like that."

There were a great many strangely shaped gravestones piled up like so many cards. Since their extremely irregular forms had already crumbled for the most part, the names on these too were impossible to make out.

"After that, behind those as well"

Further towards the interior were quietly inconspicuous gravestones. These lacked names from the beginning. These instead had round disk-like objects attached to them. As I approached for a better look, I realized they were mirrors. Even now, was that not my own face reflected back from it? A feeling of dread came over me like a cramp through my legs.

"It's alright"

The faceless boy said from behind me.

"There's no reason to be frightened by such a thing. It's not your grave after all."

"Then, whose is it?"

"It's okay to take a closer look. You should understand if you do."

As I approached, I peered into the mirror.

Light was shining into my eyes.

I reflexively raised my hands to shield my face from the radiance. After that, I slowly opened my eyes.

The morning light was shining in through a gap in the window curtains.

Stretching a little as I stood up, I opened the curtains and looked outside through the window. The light of the morning sun struck the window at a low angle coloring the glass a yellowish tint. Three 'Fat Sparrows' were vigorously jumping about from branch to branch in a tree a short ways off.

Nothing was different from the normal morning scenery. I rubbed my eyes and realized that I had been crying as I dreampt.

I went to the restroom and washed my face in such a way as to avoid being noticed by my parents.

Looking at the wall clock, I saw that it was not even 7:00.

For a long while I continued thinking about the dream I had just seen. Exactly who could the owner of that voice have been? Why had hearing it awakened such strong feelings of longing and sorrow?

And then, suddenly, It came to me. The mirror that had been attached to that gravestone. I had certainly seen it some time before. It was not some symbol of the dream, but a mirror that really existed.

My heart began beating more quickly. When I had seen it, I was still very young. Where could the place at which I had seen it be. At that time, it couldn't have been terribly far away. A place in the neighborhood..... No, a place within the house? It had been in a large box, packed together with many other odds and ends. I had thought of it as though it were a treasure, in a place where the sun didn't reach, that never grew tiresome.

That's it. It was in the warehouse.

A large warehouse had been built right next to my house. The upper half walls were white plaster while the lower portion had become Namako-Wall. The interior was surprisingly spacious. In the past, I would often sneak inside to play there.

I put a padded short coat on over my pajamas and, quietly descending the stairs, left the house through the entryway. The winter morning air was so chilly and dry that it made my freshly washed face tingle but, when filling my lungs to their fullest, I felt as though it could cleanse even ones feelings.

Remembering the details about the warehouse, I was easily able to open the large door.

If the door is closed, the perspective, by the light that comes shining in through an insect cage window, somehow seemed appropriate. Before me a stairwell opened into an 8-tatami sized room, within which, above the storage containers arranged on tightly packed shelves, the stairs continued to the second floor.

Relying on my vague recollection, I continued up to the second floor. There too, the entire surface off the walls was covered in shelves on which storage chests had accumulated.

Each of the storage chests likely weighed more than 100kg. I brought them down with Jyuryoku and looked inside each in turn.

I found it within the fifth chest I checked.

I picked up the roughly 30cm diameter round mirror. Compared to a normal mirror of silver applied to the back of glass, this one was unusually heavy and pulled heat from the fingers rapidly. It appeared as though this mirror were made of Bronze. It was without a doubt the mirror that had appeared in my dream.

And it wasn't just that. Little by little, memories came back to me. I definitely remembered seeing this mirror in the past. Furthermore, it seemed likely to have been more than just once. I tried carefully examining the mirrored surface of the bronze mirror. If left unattended for a long enough time, the surface of a bronze mirror should have decayed sprouting a thin layer of green rust. However, this mirror had only become slightly cloudy.

It had been at least five years since I had last seen this mirror. It was certain that the surface of the mirror had been polished in that interval.

I returned the storage chest to the shelf as it had been before and left the warehouse, taking only the mirror along with me.

Since I absolutely did not want to be seen by my parents, I circled around to the back of the house and left on the waterway riding the Hakuren No. IV. In spite off how early it was in the morning, I still passed by several other boats. The wind blowing across the surface of the water was freezing. While trying my best to be careful not to stand out, I choose waterways with little traffic and got off at a harbor with no one else around.

Using the cloth I had brought together with the bronze mirror, I softly rubbed the mirror surface, attempting to remove the cloudiness from it. As I gave it a try, I realized that doing it by hand was going to be more difficult than I had expected. So this time, I tried adding Jyuryoku along the motion of my hands. As I imagined a state in which the dirt on the surface had fallen away, the bronze mirror regained its pinkish gold colored luster in a moment.

From the time I first discovered it, I was operating under the assumption that it has the property of a 'Magic Mirror'.

By 'Magic Mirror' I mean a type of mirror created by a technique that has existed since ancient times. If one looks at its surface with the naked eye, no discernible pattern can be seen but, only when struck by sunlight, does a picture or lettering become visible in the reflection it casts. By means of micron scale patterning on the mirrored surface, it uses a phenomenon by which parallel light is scattered but, __light, firelight, and things like phosphor-lamps are no good. Only when the sun is up will a picture rise to the surface in the circle of light says the myth.

In ancient times, while polishing the bronze mirror 'till very thin, a patterned plate would be pressed against the opposite side, and as it was polished more and more, the pattern would be transcribed onto the mirrors surface. However, we created them as an exercise in mastering the fine control of Jyuryoku, as a part of the elementary level curriculum that every student had to take. I still remember the class in which I made one myself. It had the characters '早季'(Saki) encircled by an arabesque design that turned out quite beautifully, if I do say so myself.

I caught the sunlight on the 'Magic Mirror' and adjusted it to project the reflection onto the interior wall of a building at the harbor.

What arose within the center of the circular light was a set of distorted figures too crude to be called letters.

However, despite that, I could clearly tell that they had been intended to be read 'Yoshimi'.

As he entered the classroom, Ryo was chatting with a group of fiends all around him as usual. Most of them were children from group two.

"Hey. Please remember me today."

His smile was full of confidence as he looked at me.

"There's something I'd like to talk with you about for a moment."

"Alright. Where should we go?"

"Anywhere is fine. This won't take long."

I stood up and left the classroom ahead of him. Ryo, conscious of the eyes of the friends seing him off, followed in a very composed manner. I came to a stop midway down the corridor leading to the courtyard.

"There are a few things I would like to ask you about."

"Alright. Ask whatever you'd like."

As usual, Ryo seemed perfectly composed.

"It's about the time the two of us went night canoeing."

"What, more about that?"

Ryo forced a smile, but his eyes were swimming somewhere. *

"You once taught me about an ironclad rule regarding night canoing. Do you remember what it was?"

""For the time being, we must not look in the direction of the campfire.""

The words of the faceless boy were revived in my mind.

""Why not?""

""There is an ironclad rule about night canoing; before you begin, be certain that your eyes are adjusted to the darkness. Otherwise, you'll end up unable to see anything at all for a while.""

"I don't remember much about that long ago...... What was it. Was it 'be very careful so as to avoid running into any rocks'?"

"Alright. In that case, something more recent. Why did you break up with Satoru?"

Ryo went completely rigid.

"That...... does that kind of thing even matter at this point?"

"You got along very well. So well in fact that it made me somewhat jealous."

"So that's how it was."

Ryo's manner of speech sounded as though he were rather uncomfortable.

"Well then, the last question. Though it's about that time at summer camp again."

"Alright. Still, ask whatever."

Ryo smiled casually.

"It's about Rijin-shi. Do you remember how it was that (he) died?" *

"What's a riginshi? ......Died? What is this about?" *

"That's enough."

I said, interrupting the bewildered Ryo.

"As I thought, it seems that it really wasn't you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I will not be putting your name on my Duty Group form."

For a few moments Ryo just stared at me with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"What?..... Why?"

"I'm truely sorry. But I figured it was polite to refuse before they are finalized."

Leaving the now dumbfounded Ryo, I returned to the classroom. Satoru was standing near the entrance.

"Are you planning to put his name down Saki?"

He asked with a sour look on his face.

"There's no way I would do that."

"Eh? Then, what are you saying?"

Once again, I took a long hard look at Satoru.

"Say, Satoru, why is it that you came to like Ryo?"

"The reason....."

Satoru's expression became extremely bewildered.

"Why is it. Looking back as I am now, I don't really know."

"Is that so, I guess I was right. He's not a bad guy but, he seems out of place."*

"Eh?"

"Without a doubt, it wasn't him. The person that the two of us both fell in love with."

A short amount of time was needed for the significance of those words to fully permeate Satoru's consciousness. Before long, Satoru's cheeks took on a faint red tinge. The silence remained unbroken but, before I knew it, a strong light had returned within his eyes.

......

Translation Notes

Still only half done. I'll add more as individual scenes/dialogues are completed. -Dusanh

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