—Ring.
The sound of a bell.
A sound that heralded the appearance of the little girl, a white-clad shinigami who said, “…You are going to die.”
The girl shinigami spoke to him in a voice that was childish, yet at the same time strangely adult. He listened to the words as he lay atop his bed.
She even took the trouble of presenting her ID card to him, upon which was printed, “shinigami #A-100100.”
Save for her shoes, which were conspicuously red, she was dressed all in white. Beside her stood a black cat, and in her small hand she held an exaggeratedly large scythe, taller than she was.
Although she was armed with the tool of the trade, all the other factors didn’t exactly lend her the appearance of a shinigami. A normal person probably wouldn’t know how to react, hearing such serious words coming from such a ridiculous-looking figure.
Maybe, one might even think, what this little girl needs most is a ride to the mental institution.
But Mitsuki accepted the news she gave him and thought, I see.
His acceptance of the grave news was something instinctive, like falling in love, something that logic could not define. Somehow, he had a feeling this had been unfolding for some time now. It seemed ridiculous, but he believed the little girl actually was a Shinigami. So he also believed what he was told, that he was about to die.
What he didn’t understand was why.
After a while, the little girl added, “You’re going to die. So you should live life to the fullest.”
Such a strange one, Mitsuki thought. She’s handing me my death sentence at the same time she’s telling me to live.
She really was strange. She even smiled as she bid him farewell. Then the black cat cried out, “See ya!”
That’s strange too, Mitsuki thought. The cat—it talked.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was dark. The moon and the twinkling stars felt closer than usual.
Mitsuki floated face up in the water, fully clothed. He had snuck out of the house. Taking care not to get caught, he had made his way to the school and quietly crept into the pool.
It was now past ten in the evening, but the night air still felt humid and suffocating. Mitsuki floated like a leaf on a pond. He spread himself out and felt the pleasant coolness of the water all over his body. Because he was floating right in the middle, the pool felt much larger than it had looked earlier, when he had observed it from the window of the library.
At night, the school was guarded by a security firm and its guards. But their patrols usually only extended to the school itself and hardly ever included the pool. And even if they did come, if he remained quiet and stayed in the water, he wouldn’t be seen.
It was his older sister, who had also attended this junior high, who had first told Mitsuki about swimming here at night. At the time, he had been in the third grade.
Subaru, his older sister, had told him, “Let’s go somewhere fun.” Then she had taken him to this pool at night, to float there just as he was doing right now.
The pool was located in an area facing the street. If you climbed the fence separating the campus from the street, you could reach the pool directly. If you weren’t extra careful about stepping outside of the pool area, you’d probably get caught immediately by security or by the police.
Of course, Mitsuki had no intention of getting caught. He just wanted to float in the pool and look at the sky. Just as he had on that summer night with Subaru.
He felt a soothing sensation. It felt good, but it was different from how he’d felt that night.
On that night, Subaru had laughed.
“In a pool at night,” she had explained, “the sky gets reflected in the water, so doesn’t it feel like you’re swimming in outer space?”
She had reached her hand out into the night sky, as if to grab the silver moon. “I suppose fish are always searching for water like this,” she had continued, “and a way to travel across outer space.” Subaru had smiled happily.
Back then, Mitsuki had had no idea what his sister was talking about. Even now, he had no clue what her words meant. But it was a nostalgic kind of memory.
The water rippled from the night breeze. Each time, Mitsuki’s body bobbed up and down gently in the waves. It felt nice. It felt like swimming in outer space.
Most people probably think only astronauts experience something like this, Mitsuki thought. But right now, I’m swimming in outer space.
Take that! he wanted to shout. All of you out there in the world… and you, who aren’t here.
Mitsuki mumbled to himself again, “Subaru should have come… But, oh yeah… She’s already done this so many times… I guess she doesn’t need to anymore…”
The wind gliding over the water’s surface caressed his cheek. He began to feel chilly, maybe even a little cold. He had spent all this time in the water barely moving, so his body might have gotten considerably chilled. He decided to call it a night.
Mitsuki made his way to dry land. He carelessly slapped at the water as he swam, making chopping noises. Something caught his eye.
What…?
Shocked, he sucked in a strangled breath as he became aware of a presence at the poolside!
Mitsuki froze in fear. Quite unintentionally, his eyes met those of the intruder.
“…!”
In a flash of recognition, Mitsuki realized he knew this person’s face well.
Oh my God, he thought in relief. He knew for certain the other person felt the same way he did. The other person was Fujishima Yutaka, his classmate.
✦ ✦ ✦
“…What are you doing?” Although he knew it was a stupid thing to ask, Mitsuki couldn’t think of anything else to say in this situation. He had been so immersed in his own thoughts he had let his guard down. He had never even noticed Yutaka sneaking into the pool, just as he had done, and sitting down by the poolside.
“H-hey, what are you doing?!” he repeated.
She never answered the question, but when she did speak, she sounded terribly rattled.
“H-hey. Don’t yell! The security guards’ll catch us!” Mitsuki scolded her in a hushed voice.
Putting a hand to her mouth, Yutaka said more quietly, “What are you doing here, Asano?”
“I just asked you the same question,” Mitsuki retorted. He noticed she was wearing large denim overalls over a camisole and had beach sandals on her feet—a casual summer style, the kind of thing one wore for a quick trip to the convenience store. To top it off, she actually was carrying a convenience store bag in one hand.
Why would anybody sneak into a school pool on the way back from a convenience store? Mitsuki wondered, but he was in no position to talk about the motives of others. Both of them looked rather suspicious just then. They remained frozen, silently eyeing each other.
“Uh…” Yutaka began uneasily. “Asano-sa…” She broke off, seemingly indecisive.
“What is it?” Mitsuki snapped, irritated by her sudden bashfulness.
What’s all this modesty about? he wondered. She usually acts so rude!
But nobody else was around. They were a boy and a girl alone in this place. And, as it turned out, in front of this boy, the girl was shy.
It occurred to Mitsuki that it was almost as if they were acting out a “love confession” scene. But there was no way this girl would confess to him. That was just plain ridiculous.
But the next thing he knew, she really did confess—only it wasn’t the kind of confession Mitsuki had been entertaining. It was more of the “dangerously desperate” variety, rather than the “restlessly in love” kind.
“Just now,” she explained, “I… released it… here.”
“Released… what?” Mitsuki asked. He had no idea what she was talking about.
“Uh, well, you see… Anyway, Asano, I think you should hurry up and get out of the pool, okay?”
Again, he tried to ask her what was up. “Well, sure I’m getting out. But what is it? What’s this about?”
“Uh… Well, I…” she began.
“Yeah.”
“Uh… these pira…” she tried to say.
“Bira? Pira? What?” Mitsuki asked in confusion.
“I’m saying…” she continued. “I released these pira… And so…”
“Huhhh?! I can’t hear you, you know?!”
A slight wind blew, gently lifting Yutaka’s long, brown-dyed hair. It also further lowered the water’s temperature. Mitsuki shivered, but he had forgotten all about exiting the pool.
“Come on already!” he urged. “Hurry up and spit it out.”
It was cold. By now, his lips were undoubtedly colored an exquisite cobalt blue.
Hurry up, he thought. Hurry up and say it. Don’t keep me waiting!
Finally, she did say it. She said an absolutely unbelievable thing. “I said… I just released piranhas into the pool, you idiot!”
“W-what are you saying…” he stuttered. “Oh… Oh my God… Are you serious…?!”
Yutaka nodded.
His mind wailed in a helpless and small voice. I see—so that convenience store bag was carrying piranhas. Duh?! Why didn’t you say that soon-errrrrrrrrrrrrrr!