Floating Light and Bubbles 09
Last night there was a heavy rain, which washed away all the summer dust. I feel more and more out of tune with this world.
Today's sunlight blinds me. With few people here, I feel perfectly content to occupy a large tree all to myself. I yawn, not even bothering to look up at the tree as it diligently grows. It provides me with shade, and I'm deeply grateful. I don't have anything to offer it. My hands are empty, my heart filled with only sorrow. If it were willing to accept my sorrow, I would gladly give it to it.
The bright green leaves shimmered in the sunlight, but I still couldn't open my eyes. Being unable to open my eyes wasn't a big deal. Not being able to see those ugly monsters was something to celebrate.
I'm an unlucky person. My hometown is Hokkaido. My grandfather and I depended on each other for survival, but unfortunately, he passed away in March of this year. Dying of old age isn't much to say. If it had been an illness or an accident, I could still vent my frustrations to the world. Dying of old age is truly boring. Hokkaido is still very cold in March, completely different from Tokyo.
Tokyo. Well, I'm in Tokyo now. Out of a sense of obligation, my relatives back there have agreed to raise me. My relationship with them isn't great, but the thought of repaying them in the future feels like an invisible burden. It's awful.
I don't like Tokyo; I'd say I hate it. Coming from the north, I don't fit in here at all. The summers are so humid and hot. Most importantly, there are so many of those maggot-like creatures here. When I was back home in Hokkaido, I'd only occasionally come across one. When I was little and didn't know better, I told my friends, my teachers, my grandfather about it, and they all just watched. Some believed it, some didn't. But I knew they didn't believe it. As I got older, I learned to keep it a secret. Alas, I've been ridiculed and looked down upon for this. Even if I stop talking about it, people will still tease me about it. I don't know what to do. My grandfather died, but I didn't feel anything. I've always felt like I didn't belong in this world.
When I was about to come to Tokyo, I was excited for days and nights. I thought it was my hometown's isolation that gave rise to these things. After all, if you looked closely, you could see traces of our local folklore and strange stories in them. I envisioned the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, but the reality was far from satisfactory. My high school had several of these, and there was nothing more tragic than that. My relatives wouldn't let me transfer schools for no reason, and I didn't want to go to a worse school. Studying was my only option, even if I didn't want to go there.
Better than falling directly into the abyss.
I kept hypnotizing myself with this. After all, most of them don't seem to cause much harm to us humans.
In the distance, two crows flew over and sat on a telephone pole, calling out to me. The sound was really unpleasant.
Okay, I admit it. If you happened to glance at me as you walked past me right now, you'd notice I have dark circles under my eyes, darker than a giant panda from China. Seriously. Being a panda chewing bamboo all day isn't so bad. But I'm getting off topic. The dark circles are the result of a week of sleep deprivation.
In two weeks, three people died at school. I'm certain it was those filthy creatures. I won't tell the teachers; I don't want to be thought of as crazy again. But I'm also afraid the monsters will come after me.
This makes me sad and anxious.
Maybe you're the protagonist, Suzuki-kun. Like those in Jump comics, only not yet. The fact that you survived until the age of 17 is a testament to your extraordinary abilities. And you've made it from the damp, muddy countryside to the vibrant lights of Tokyo. You'd fit the bill perfectly for a shonen manga protagonist.
The above is just my random thoughts. I'll just live like an ordinary person. I can't do anything about those things, I just see them.
I put my hands in my pockets. Why hasn’t the next bus arrived yet?
The azure sky might just be someone's graffiti.
The sky darkened slightly, and I had already opened my eyes. I began to glance around again. Sorry, I was looking for any trace of "them," needing to be sure I wasn't around to feel at ease.
My only skill is that even if I glance around, those things find it difficult to notice my presence.
A girl.
She lowered her head and I couldn't see her face clearly.
I saw destiny.
A speeding car came over, it was speeding, giving me a chance to be a hero and save the beauty.
When I reacted, I had already dragged her under the tree.
She blinked and smiled at me. A fake smile, yet genuine. I couldn't judge it. Pride in discovering someone's true self? Come on, people change all the time, I know that. Grandpa said he wanted sukiyaki this morning, and then he cooked a huge pot of ramen for lunch.
She is beautiful. It's hard for me to describe.
I can't think of a satisfactory description. Clouds? Too bland. Flowers? Too vibrant. You can't appreciate their beauty simply by passing them on the street; you need to observe them closely, as I do.
She felt embarrassed by my gaze. I know it was rude. But you have to understand, when you realize that the world has become different because of someone, you will also cheer like me, like seeing the falling stars burst into endless colors and life begin to flow again.
"Hello." Her voice was mellow, sweet and powerful, and the sorrow in my heart was blown away by her.
"Do you want to see your back?" She tempted me with a honey-like tone.
No one would disobey her. Her eyes were so bright and clear.
I moved stiffly, and a fat and long tongue came out of the ugly monster's mouth, almost touching my clothes.
My reluctance to scream was a testament to my high self-cultivation. Taking a few steps back and leaving the girl beside it wasn't my intention; I couldn't go against the creature's instinct for fear.
"Run!" I shouted at her and made up my mind to fall behind her so that my life would have some meaning.
This is a dangerous guy.
I've always been very sensitive to other people's gazes, and she was looking at me curiously, her head tilted, as if assessing something. I was calm enough now to notice something was wrong.
The monster was afraid of her and was moving towards me.
She was much faster than it. No, it was the monster that was too slow, so slow that she could leisurely walk up to me and hand me a pistol.
"What's your name?" she asked. There must be a more appropriate place to meet such a beautiful girl. I prayed that the monster would move slower.
Would a pistol really be of any use against a monster like this?
"Suzuki Yu." I answered resignedly.
She came close to me, forced the gun into my hand, and held my hand in a gun-holding gesture. My palms were sweaty and I couldn't hold it at all, but she kept holding my hand like that.
All I remember is that her hands were cold.
The gun went off.
The recoil is very small, almost non-existent.
This is a custom gun.
I don't know if it was her or me who pressed it.
At that time, I only understood one thing: the nightmare that had troubled me for many years disappeared so easily.
The ugly, filthy monster was reduced to ashes.
It couldn't be easier.
She let go of my hand.
"Suzuki-kun?"
Her hand fluttered away. Why didn't she use perfume? That way, there would still be a scent worth remembering in her life.
"Suzuki-kun?" She called me again, and I realized she hadn't left. She was holding a feather earring, and I noticed that her left ear was now empty.
"You don't need to abide by the confidentiality clause," she murmured. "It's okay even if it's broken."
"It would be terrible if other people heard the gunshot just now." She raised the feather earrings in her hand and smiled playfully. I felt like I was not myself anymore.
"This is a special material. In layman's terms, it can carry magic. I made it into a prop. This way, no one else will know what just happened."
“I’m so sorry…” All I could think about was her small, delicate left ear, which was now so asymmetrical with her right ear.
"This is no longer useful. I can give it to you as a souvenir. But you must return the gun to me. Bullets that can exorcise cursed spirits are very expensive."
I offered it with both hands. The feathers were so soft, so soft that they gently caressed my heart.
I saw my decadent self in the puddles on the ground.
"I have a favor to ask of you!" I have used up all my courage in this life, and bowed 90 degrees!
"Please speak." Her expression did not change, and her eyes were as calm as water.
"That..." I straightened up, flustered, not knowing where to start.
"You can speak slowly."
I really like her smile at this moment. It's much more beautiful than the fake smile just now.
She walked ahead, purposeful. And who else, besides someone like me who wanders around with nothing to do, would go to such a remote place for no apparent reason? I followed her, from the school's death to the relative's dog, the long, cold Hokkaido winter, the irritating Tokyo. I told her everything, and I didn't feel particularly embarrassed about doing this to a stranger. Maybe she had some special power.
She listened attentively. She remained silent, occasionally tucking her wind-blown hair back. Her eyes weren't focused on me; they held something else.
I felt a mixture of relief and sadness.
"Suzuki-kun, do you want me to exorcise the cursed spirit from your school?"
She retracted her departing heart and said to me, I nodded slowly. This was the only thing she cared about.
"Suzuki-kun, didn't you see the cherry blossoms when you first arrived in Tokyo? Spring comes early here, it would be a shame to miss it. But Tokyo in the summer is really not a pleasant place to live. Not only because of the rainy season and the scorching heat, but also because of the increase in the number of annoying cursed spirits."
Only when she is distressed does she look like a "human being".
"If a person enters a strange city without a desire to explore, they will only be left with bad emotions. This is why cursed spirits are born."
"Are there many people like me...us who can see curses...curse spirits?" I asked stutteringly.
"Not much, right?" She shook her head slightly, and the feather ornament on her right ear fluttered lightly, as if it was about to fly up at the next moment.
"The vocational school I attend has fewer than 10 students in all grades combined. It's a big school, but it feels empty."
A vocational school? So there really is another world out there... Can I go? I was too nervous to ask. We strolled down a quiet shopping street, and she stopped in front of a Japanese confectionery shop.
"I went on missions with Wu before... Wu was my classmate. Student sorcerers also had to go on missions. After all, there were many cursed spirits, but few sorcerers. Of course, we got paid, and it was quite high, but it still wasn't a good job. One time, when we came back from exorcising a cursed spirit, Wu said he didn't want to go back to school and wanted to take a walk—his mind was always jumping around. I agreed, and then we wandered aimlessly and found this shop."
The sign was old, and the owner was an elderly woman with gray hair, a hunched back, and a kimono with her hair in a bun. A sweet smell hit me.
"This shop has been open for many years. The remote location is due to my mother-in-law's health. And me... an old man can't handle too much business. The only reason I keep it open is because my mother-in-law wants to talk to someone."
"Suzuki-kun, if you need my help, please treat me to some Kusabi. This is overtime."
"How can one straw cake be enough..."
“The value of a gift cannot be measured in money.”
The task I asked her to perform was so dangerous—three people had already died. It must be a dangerous cursed spirit, right? I even began to regret telling her about it. Her arms were so slender, and her weapon was just a pistol. This wasn't a task assigned to her by her teacher. Would I have harmed her?
"Suzuki-kun, why are you afraid of human derivatives?"
Derivatives...? Yeah, if there were no people, wouldn't these things exist...
Her love for humanity is extraordinary.
"Don't worry, I'm here. But it won't be for free!"
I am short of money, but I can still afford grass cakes, not to mention that my mother-in-law sells them at a very reasonable price.
Mugwort, mung beans, and glutinous rice. It smells wonderful, the flavors of the three blended together in a balanced way, full of happiness.
My mother-in-law is an optimist.
She didn't seem to want to eat it right away, so I asked my mother-in-law to put it in the bowl and gave it to her with a bow. She burst out laughing.
I really want to run all the way from Tokyo to the North Pole... Is the South Pole even farther? I can't think about that!
I had nothing in my hands and was asking a woman I'd just met for the first time for a favor, something that could have been life-threatening. What the hell was I doing? Could I shirk my obligation to her over a mere strawberry? She was understanding, but I couldn't take it for granted!
She had a very pleasant chat with her mother-in-law and then bought several different flavors of Daifuku.
"That handsome guy you were with last time bought these, right?"
"Well. He said he wanted to try which one was the best, but then he said, 'I'll have none of them!' and sent me back to buy another."
"It's amazing that you remember it so clearly. I don't think he would repeat it to you again, would he?"
"Well, it doesn't matter if you can't remember."
"Is Wujun busy?" I couldn't help but interrupt. I didn't know what kind of person was it to send a girl to run errands. Also, I didn't want to call him "Wujun", but I didn't know his last name.
"Very busy."
I was puzzled by her lack of disappointment.
"With great power comes great responsibility. Just do your part."
We said goodbye to my grandmother and walked down the commercial street. There was nothing interesting here except her small shop.
"Wujun thinks..." I paused. I didn't know her name.
"Ruoye."
"Do you, Wu-kun, think Miss Wakaba is weak?"
"Wow." Her eyes suddenly lit up.
I turned on the lighthouse on the sea at night and had a place to rest temporarily.
She chuckled. "Yeah. He always thinks that. But he knows I'm strong. I really don't understand."
"Like this." That Wu Jun...just wanted to show off his masculinity in front of Miss Ruoye.
I understand very well.
"Suzuki-kun is from the Kyudo club."
"yes."
"Can I come to Suzuki-kun's school on weekends?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Then let's climb over the wall. We don't have to worry about other people." She lowered her voice, as if she was talking about a confidential mission.
My heart was pounding.
She wasn't very skilled, and it was obvious someone had caught her before. Now it was my turn to do that. Fortunately, I caught her safely.
She was lighter than I expected and could fly away with just a gust of wind.
"Suzuki-kun is as thoughtful as Jay."
Who is Jiejun?
It's a pity that she ended the topic.
"What does Suzuki-kun know about the deceased?" She took a few steps and looked at the teaching building in the distance.
"Ueda Arata is my classmate. He likes strange stories and legends and often tells them in class."
"The other two, Kaoru Kobayashi and Iku Kobayashi, are twin sisters. Kaoru Kobayashi has a crush on Ueda."
"The police records don't say that Kaoru Kobayashi likes Ueda."
She got the police information so quickly?
She encouraged me to continue.
So I continued, "Kaoru Kobayashi's class is next door. When she passes by our class and Ueda is there, she will stop for a while."
"Three weeks ago, Ueda started looking back at Kobayashi Kaoru."
"You thought there was progress between them."
"Um."
It would have been just a harmless teenage love story, if they were both still alive.
"The police found no connection between them."
"The Kobayashi sisters are both very shy." I tried to recall everything about them. "Ueda must have promised Kobayashi Kaoru not to tell anyone about this."
"Does this have anything to do with exorcising cursed spirits?"
There's one roaming the building she's looking at. Is it killing them? I see it in the hallways all the time.
"It's not this," she said firmly, not answering my question, but answering my inner voice. For a moment, I felt fear.
She seemed to be aware of the problem.
"Sorry, this is my ability."
Ahhh...it's me who should apologize!
What are you doing, Suzuki Yu!
"Miss Ruoye, Miss Ruoye is not wrong."
"It has nothing to do with exorcising cursed spirits," she answered my previous question. "It's just that I have a friend who likes to collect stories, and I want to tell them to her."
"Oh." I thought I could transform into Detective Conan and help solve the case.
I didn't see what she did, but she smiled and said to me, "The cursed spirits should be completely exorcised. But there might be some that slipped through the net. Suzuki-kun, let's inspect the entire school."
She kept staring at the ground. Could the fish that had slipped through the net be underground?
I first took her to inspect a few places where I often saw cursed spirits. The cursed spirits in those places were really gone.
How did Si Guoyi do it?
I noticed she didn't use the other earring.
She can exorcise the cursed spirit so quietly, so she doesn't need to carry any props to conceal her presence, right?
She paused, as if thinking.
I forgot she could read minds.
"I'm not reading your mind, Suzuki-kun. If only Suzuki-kun's emotions weren't so volatile, I wouldn't know what you're thinking."
"Suzuki-kun likes me, right?" She smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, "There are many people who like me."
Disappointment is only natural. Miss Ruoye is so outstanding... my love for her is indeed insignificant.
"How can you say it's insignificant? Liking someone is a positive emotion, much less so than the negative emotions that can create curses, right?"
I will definitely admit that she is right. I can't deny my love, right?
"The reason I carry these tools with me is because sometimes I encounter people like Suzuki-kun. I have to help them overcome their fear. After that, whether they return to normal life or choose to become a sorcerer is up to them."
What to do, I like it more.
I followed her carefully, keeping a certain distance from her, as if this would prevent her from reading my mind. No, she said it wasn't mind reading.
We finally stopped at the door of the Supernatural Society.
This is where she brought me.
"We've all been to the places Suzuki-kun knows about cursed spirits. But I sense there's one here too, the strongest one." Her expression was unsurprised. I wouldn't be surprised either. It's only natural that cursed spirits would be associated with the Supernatural Society.
I suddenly remembered something: "Ueda is a member of the Spiritual Club. But the Kobayashi sisters are not."
"Did the three of them create a supernatural incident and end up killing themselves?"
"This story teaches us not to fall in love. It was you, Ueda, who dragged the Kobayashi sisters into experimenting with strange stories. The Kobayashi sisters were reluctant, but Kaoru Kobayashi couldn't resist Ueda's pleading."
So... do the three of them deserve what they got?
"How could that be? Did the three of them make any mistakes? If the cursed spirit had killed someone else, they would have been wrong. But before the cursed spirit killed the fourth person, Suzuki-kun found me. Now, we can only wish the deceased rest in peace and become a god or Buddha after death."
"Ms. Ruoye, does the world after death really exist?"
"You exist, but you are already dead. You will return to nothingness. You as the individual 'Suzuki Yu' no longer exist. You have become a higher being. Or rather, it is true that everyone becomes a god after death. This higher being is made up of all human beings."
To be honest, her words were too mysterious and profound for me to understand.
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Knowing this won't help you in your life, Suzuki-kun."
"Now, Suzuki-kun can make a choice. Do you want to be an ordinary person, a Window, or a Spellcaster?"
She had previously explained to me what a "window" is.
"Do you want an answer now?" I was quite nervous. My fate had reached a fork in the road. I knew the true side of this world, and I would make a choice. I—
"No need to answer right away. What I need to tell you, Suzuki-kun, is that the mortality rate for sorcerers is as high as 15%."
Fifteen percent—the world is crazy.
"Even someone as strong as Miss Ruoye might..."
"I won't. In fact," her smile grew a little sadder, "Suzuki-kun, this is the result of my hard work. The death rate was even higher before."
"If I could become as strong as Miss Ruoye, I could make a difference together, right?" I patted my chest and said confidently. Although I hadn't made up my mind, I was leaning towards her. I think she started to like me a little after hearing what I said. But that was the look a mother gives her child, and I didn't like it.
I think--
"Suzuki-kun, my friend is here to see me."
I felt like I was poured with a bucket of cold water in the summer, and I felt chilled to the bone.
I walked with her to the wall where we had come in.
"Jay, the most remnants of Hikaru's curse remain here."
The two men climbed over the wall and came in.
The white-haired, blue-eyed man smiled so brightly upon seeing Miss Wakaba that it almost blinded me: "Hatsu-chan--, the mission is completed ahead of schedule--I came to find you--my great fortune--"
"I'm done." She walked over and handed the daifuku to the man... I assumed it was "Go-kun." Only then did I notice her hands weren't idle. She'd bought some souvenirs before accompanying me to exorcise the cursed spirit.
"Why are there still straw cakes?"
"It's a reward."
"Give it to me." Wu Jun opened his throat and stuffed the straw cake directly into it.
"I was originally planning to give it to Wu."
"Knowing that you are the best to me~"
How can a man act like a spoiled child in front of a woman? I can't understand Wu Jun's behavior pattern. I can ask Miss Wakaba, but I will never - はつちゃん, can I call you like that?
"Is Jay in a daze?"
It turns out that the black-haired man with weird bangs is Jiejun.
"Who is that?"
Jiejun had been observing me, and he finally had the chance to talk to Miss Ruoye.
"Someone with the talent of a sorcerer."
Jiejun's hostility towards me immediately lessened.
It’s so strange, shouldn’t Jiejun and I be the same kind of people?
Why do I feel that Jiejun and I are the same kind of people?
Miss Wakaba is very strong, and Wu-kun, who thinks Miss Wakaba is weak, will only become stronger. Jie-kun's desire to protect Miss Wakaba is even stronger than Wu-kun's, so Jie-kun must be very strong too...
They are not the same kind of people as me.
I feel like Jiejun and I are the same kind of people, probably because Jiejun and I both love Miss Ruoye but can't get her. And Jiejun is more miserable than me. If he wants to stay with them, he has to see Wujun and Miss Ruoye being so happy together.
Jie Jun...wouldn't want to leave them unless he had something new to rely on in the future.
I'm quite confident in my ability to maintain emotional stability. So who has been reading my thoughts from the beginning until now?
"That's not a sorcerer." Jie Jun glanced at me and quickly looked away.
"It's pitiful that Ijichi is the only one in the first grade," Wu-kun interrupted. He seemed to be talking to me. Wu-kun, do you want me to enter Jujutsu High School? We're rivals in love—I don't believe Wu-kun can't see that.
Oh, I'm not a rival in love at all.
Wujun and Miss Wakaba are already a couple.
I came too late.
"Satoru, Suzuki-kun hasn't made up his mind yet..."
"This person will come." How come Wujun is more confident than me?
"I hope so." Miss Ruoye smiled at me.
I just can't seem to say no to these two.
I want to agree to Miss Ruoye right now, but that would make me look like I haven't thought it through. Although I don't want to study, my grades in school are very good.
"Where are your earrings?"
"For Suzuki-kun."
Wu-kun wants to eat me like a straw cake.
This is absolutely true.
"I'll give Wu a gift too."
"That's a deal then."
Poor Jiejun, poor Youjun.
When we climbed over the wall, it was Wu who caught Miss Ruoye. Jie, like me, wanted to reach out but ended up putting his hands behind his back.
I want to talk to Jiejun.
"Did Jiejun fall in love with Miss Ruoye at first sight?" I asked this because I did fall in love with Miss Ruoye at first sight. It's only natural that I judge others by my own standards.
Jiejun opened his eyes wide and looked at me, then looked around and confirmed that Wujun and Miss Ruoye had not heard it before clearing his throat and saying to me, "So what if it is."
Jie-kun is very arrogant towards me. He's stronger than me, so arrogance is normal. And if I become a sorcerer, Jie-kun will be my senior. Being lectured by seniors is a common occurrence in Japanese society.
"Jie Jun wants me to become a sorcerer, why don't you confirm me?"
"Just being able to see is not enough." Jie Jun said with his head held high.
I thought he was concerned about me. With my current strength as a sorcerer, I am 100% of that 15%.
"Thank you, Jie-kun."
"Why should I thank you?" Jie Jun ignored me, so I prepared to say goodbye to Miss Ruoye and told her I would seriously consider her advice. Spellcasters get paid, so I don't have to live with relatives anymore. I hadn't taken a few steps when I heard Jie Jun whisper, "Obviously... I came earlier..."
Poor Jiejun, poor Youjun.
Jiejun, face it calmly.
There is no first come first served when it comes to love.
It doesn't matter to Youjun.
Youjun felt that being able to stand by her side was the best outcome.
Yu-kun never had the ability to compete with Wu-kun.
After saying goodbye to you, my autobiography should come to an end.
See you later, everyone.
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