Kuzu to Kinka no Qualidea - Volume 1 - Chapter Ep1

YUU-1
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And they fathered them together into the place
which is called in Hebrew Har-magedon.
And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders;
and there was a great earthquake,
such as was not since there were men upon the earth,
so great an earthquake, so mighty.
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell:
and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God,
to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent,
cometh down out of heaven upon men:
and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;
for the plague thereof is exceeding great.

Revelation to John (Johannes) 16: 16; 18-21, ASV

Yuu-1

Sunday morning in the middle of the rainy season was covered with clear blue skies.

No matter where I looked, there was not a single cloud to be a seen. The sky was blue as far as the eye could see, and the weather was so utterly fine that it felt distinctly unreal. It was almost like background art for a kabuki play. The stage curtains had already fallen, and all that was left was to wait for someone to tidy up the storehouse.

Somehow, it made my skin crawl.

Regardless of my actions, the play would invariably end on its own accord. Even if I were to continue living in my own world, others with their subjective opinions would interfere. That was the sort of feeling I experienced.

What lies ahead of us is sweet despair.

The harsh extinction of one’s consciousness. A nightmare that stretches into eternity. A snare that reaches into the void.

Every day we live, we edge one step closer to death. There is no guarantee that one will live to see tomorrow.

People do not have enough time to spare in their lives to waste it on conflict or intruding upon the stories of others. They may invent feelings and concoct encounters, but in the end it is all about themselves. Instead of paying any heed whatsoever to the person they misunderstood, they focus solely on their own story. Instead of paying any heed whatsoever to a person they care little for, they simply focus on living their lives on their own terms.

And then they pray. They pray so that when death finally claims them they will have a smile on their faces—

“…How bright,” I muttered, pulling down the blinds.

As I closed my eyes, the bell rang at the doorway.

Yuu-2

Haruma-san took his usual seat at the edge of the sofa in the living room faster than I could set down the barley tea.

By now, he had become quite a savvy individual. At first he was a hopeless mutt who could not even remember where the toilet was, but the training paid off. How impressive I am. I am such a wonderful breeder that I could now take him out anywhere without being ashamed.

I sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and nodded eagerly.

Normally, it was a Chigusa family trend to have Misa sitting in the middle, but today Kusaoka-san had been with me to observe the health institution since morning.

Misa had firmly rejected our offer to attend to her in bed, saying that it was her final checkup at this place we had frequented countless times. She seemed to have been growing more independent lately. I wondered if she was growing in places I could not see. There was also a possibility that she had absolutely no desire to see Haruma-san. I’d say the probability of the latter was 60 per cent.

“I’ve looked them both over.” Haruma-san spread out a bunch of the documents on the sofa and held them out towards me. “As it turns out, your list of missing clients and Kuriu-sensei’s underwear collection list don’t match one bit.”

“This is a bit off-topic but, but it’s quite amusing to hear you say underwear collection with that face of yours.”

“I’m not amused. That really is off-topic.”

Haruma-san’s face (which was… well, let’s not got there) screwed up in mock-anger, which made me giggle. He clucked his tongue at me like a child. Tch! Somehow, it just left me more amused. I might have become addicted to laughter.

“I looked all over Sensei’s house, but Maria-chan’s still missing,” he said. “Her preferences aside, Kuriu-sensei’s feelings of love seem to be genuine, so I don’t think she was lying about anything she said…”

“Not to mention that there’s a discrepancy in the urban legend, hm?”

Kuriu-sensei had only said she had spread a rumour about young girls going out into town at night. But what we had actually heard was that lovers vanished at a crossroads, a strange rumour that strained credibility. One might assume that the rumour had changed as it was being spread, but still.

“Hey, I’ve been telling you this whole time that I actually saw it happen with my own eyes.”

“I don’t believe a word of it so it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Don’t give me that. Have some faith in me.”

I would never fall for any sinister plot to deceive another person. Haruma-san had probably concocted some story out of his simple desire to be with me. Beauty is such a curse. Those who are so far beneath me must approach me in such a roundabout way.

“Great, this is getting nowhere… If only I had a handy girlfriend, I could’ve gotten sucked into the crossroad and seen what it’s really like for myself…”

Haruma-san looked for all the world as if he could not think of anything, so I sighed for no discernible reason or purpose.

“…Good grief. You leave me with no choice.”

I uttered the magic words (i.e. the lines I was supposed to say). With a nonchalant expression, I lifted a single finger, wielding those well-worn words as a weapon.

“If you want to test that urban legend, then perhaps I can be of help, no?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Why, you ask? Because we love each other!”

Haruma-san blinked—once, twice—and then nodded as if he was satisfied about something.

“That’s right.” He paused. “Er, is that right? Really?” Another pause. “Okay. Yeah, um, sure.”

“Huh? Er, um, yes…”

“Huh? What? You mean that’s not how it is after all?”

“No, um, that is what I meant…”

Haruma-san always carried himself with an air of baseness and irony, so I would never have considered that he would respond with candour. The arrogant manner with which he responded to a perfect girl’s joke about their class differences had the same gravity as that of a sinner, as described in the Book of Johanne. My cheeks instantly turned red as a kettle as my anger flared, so I pressed my cup against my ear and blew to cool myself down. No no, there was no point even if I blew with my mouth, man. Hm, why did I say ‘man’? Was it because I had a hairy, red face? My shaking and trembling were leaving a lasting effect. And the cause of it was entirely my anger. Most definitely anger.

Calm thyself, Yuu.

I sipped on my barley tea and gazed vacantly up at the second floor.

“That reminds me, Misa isn’t here today. Perhaps she’s staying overnight.”

“Hmm…” Haruma-san had gulped down his barley tea and was staring at the bottom of his cup for some reason. “Oh yeah, Amane-chan said she’s coming home late too.”

“…Hmm,” I grunted as I counted the number of moths on the ceiling and pretended to act enthused.

A fairy of silence danced within the living room. I’m quite sure that fairy was wearing an extraordinarily spiteful expression. My back started itching excessively, and my body started trembling with impatience. My neck was thoroughly strained from looking up at the ceiling, but I had no idea what sort of expression I should wear on my face if I did look down.

There are many things in this world that defy understanding.

Let me see, which one of us was the reason why my hand on the sofa had become heavier at this very moment? Who had approached first? I would firmly insist that it was the impertinent Haruma-san.

If that is what I think, then it must be so. That’s how it is in my world.

Haruma-1

In this world created through my own thoughts, there were many things that I knew I ought not to do (although if that were the case, it was generally a mystery why I called it my world), but anyway, this was the only time I could not understand why things had turned out the way they did.

No, I did my part. I tried my best to understand, and I even acted. But no matter how much everyone tried to challenge the system like a green, droopy-eyed monster, it wasn’t as if they were going to succeed. It all led to nothing in the end.

I threw myself down on an unfamiliar bed and opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

The wind blew in through the open window, gently cooling my sweaty skin. I let out a feverish sigh and tossed around in the bed.

Through a gap in the fluttering curtains, the yellow light of the evening sun shone through.

The faint sunlight illuminated her black hair spread languidly across the wrinkled bed sheets, her white porcelain skin, and finally the smile of the girl in my arms.

Chigusa was lying on her stomach wrapped in bed sheets that served as a towel blanket, her face buried in a pillow. Her shoulders and legs were bared, and I could catch a slight glimpse of her cleavage. Looking at her like this was like a dream; it didn’t feel real. Or you could say it felt like the kind of thing I dream about during the day.

There are a lot of things in this world that defy understanding. Time to face the situation and unravel the first mystery.

“Um, can I just ask one thing?”

“What is it, Haruma-san?”

“…Are you really okay with it? With, um… me,” I rasped, my voice ever so slightly husky and pitiful.

In response, Chigusa held a finger to my lips. Then she edged closer to me with a bashful laugh. Heh heh. Our bare shoulders bumped, causing our light sweat to mix like champagne.

“I’m okay with it. I really am okay with it. I mean, even if you do make a small mistake, it’s nothing to be worried over, Clumsyoka-san!”

“…That’s not what I meant. Oh, and that’s a fine thing for you to say. I’m so sorry, Chibusa-san.”

The moment I said that, she slapped my cheek. Thwack!

“Ouuuuch! Um, what? Did you just through a serious punch at me?!”

“I am always serious.”

Chigusa made a pouty face oh-so-innocently.  She peeled off the sheets around her chest, and then, with a short, breathy sigh, she began to speak as if singing a beautiful song.

“That’s why I am serious when I say that I’m glad that you’re here beside me now, Clumsyoka-san.”

“Oh, right…”

If she put it that way, then there was no way that I could object.

After another silence, I spoke up again. “I’m glad then, Chibusa-san.”

That was supposed to be a cute put-down to hide my embarrassment, but it earned me another hard slap, this time on the left cheek. Ouuuch! Man, was she that hung about up her chest? Sorry, I didn’t really care about it either way…

At least, that’s why I thought she hit me, but this time her reason was something different.

“You have to call me by my name. Do it properly,” said Chigusa as she averted her face and tossed around in the bed with her back facing me.

“Chigusa?”

There was no response when I called out her. I tried to get her attention countless times but she persisted in ignoring me huffily.

—Which meant that, if I was ever going to say it, now was the time.

“Yuu.”

When I called out her name, Yuu rose from the bed. Her fingers fell on my skin, and her whispers tickled my ear.

“Only someone special can call me by my first name. I am worth a high premium. Will you pay me with the rest of your life?”

“…The rest of my life? That’s not a good deal.”

This time, she slapped me on both cheeks as if she was attempting to squeeze me. I said it hurts, I would have said, but the complaints never formed in my mouth. Yuu simply held me to the spot, so that all I could see in front of me was her face.

As our bodies drew together, the bed shook wildly as if a giant whale was tumbling around in it. The creaking never went away; the wobbling gave off a precarious feeling.

There was no firm foothold, so it wasn’t like I was looking for one. We brought our faces together on our accord, simply because we wanted to.

Just as our lips touched, Yuu let out a soft sigh. “Ah.”

Her wide eyes were directed behind me outside the window. When I looked over my shoulder to follow her gaze, she pulled my head towards her.

My world, and my world alone, was coming to an end.

A black shadow engulfed the world. Her flowing, jet-black hair released a shining light.

It happened suddenly, taking me off guard.

We kissed, signalling the end of the story.