Vol 1 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Tada Banri ran half crying

The Tokyo streets at one o'clock in the”the Tokyo”, were pitch dark with no signs of life, not even a lit light by aDuring the day today (or rather, yesterday already), in spite of it only being April, it had been so war iced coffee, ” He was now shi+vering from the cold and anxiety The sleeves of his flannel hoodie pulled down to his fingertips, his too-unsteady footstepssound froet to the ht He wanted it to happen With all his heart he ran

”A young h the streets at night teary eyed”, I thought, but I understood Banri's feelings

If I were in the saht cry too

He had coether with hisa life alone, had arranged for furniture, appliances, gas, water, electricity and so on She'd gotten through various minor formalities here and there, and then this afternoon (already, so fast!) she'd returned home in a Hikari bullet train

And then, finally, he had truly started the first night of his life alone Only, this night kept hie entrance cere, unable to sleep with his worries, he did as he supposed any resident of Tokyo would do in order to distract himself: he went from one convenience store to another but he lost his way in the streets Worse, it appeared that somewhere, somehow, he had lost the key to his new home In any case, it wasn't there in his pocket anymore

Banri's feet suddenly stopped and walked all of three steps back the way he'd coe of the sidewalk ”Saved”, he said to hi where he now lived, ”Motoer from ”You are here” Anyway, once he had returned to the front of the apart, he intended to walk all the way back to the convenience store, searching for his keys

But ahh, enough

If this voice could reach Banri, I would tell him, ”Look more carefully at the map That 'Motomachi' is the 'Motomachi' in the next district!'” No, rather I would say, ”You left the to lock up! They're in the room!” Unfortunately, I cannot do that

For the ti, all I can do is pray for hiet back to the apartet to sleep quickly, then perhaps he would survive tomorrow's entrance ceremony without problems Just how ie student entrance cere soul, can understand

I couldn't believe the possibility that the spirits of men, even when they have left their bodies, remain and stay in this world to watch over someone This side of the world was hidden, so I had only recently found out

I ahost

My name was once Tada Banri

nobody hears this voice anymore, nobody notices my existence

I just keep watching this new Tada Banri who continues to live, even though I, his spirit, have fallen out of him

”Young man, at this hour what---, what happened---”

All of a sudden, the living Tada Banri turned his face forward and a light shone straight in his eyes, freezing hihts

”Ah, wha I, I got lost”

”Do you have a license, a passport, anything with you that can prove who you are?”

”Eh, ah, huh”

He was being subjected to the first police interrogation of his life This was going to be a long night Was this situation a crisis? Was it a gift from God? You can never tell where Banri is concerned

Anything and everything thrown together, his current state of affairs was one of ”Great Trepidations”, thought Banri as he looked around

The weather, however, was truly excellent

A snowstorm of cherry blossom petals from the clear blue sky danced around frantically, as they wanted to spend their lives as spectacularly as possible The auditorius, seemed to welcome the moment of drama

The scene looked like soainst an April sky Young people gathering for opening cere brand new suits and leather shoes, bright se life Banri felt like trying to cut off the dark, inconspicuous corner of that painting, where he stood

A constant stream of friendly conversations passed before his eyes The auditoriu For the moment, Banri and everybody else had the same brand new suits and the same brand new leather shoes, in their hands they had envelopes with the naes With dark circles beneath his eyes from lack of sleep, he didn't look the typical freshle and so around, bothering him

He couldn't get to sleep until three in the ht

He got the idea, in the dead of the night, to go out and buy sohborhood (a rather du to do), took time away from a policeman's duties, explained his situation and was escorted back to his apartot to sleep, but due to his nerves, he woke up at six in the ht, as he slowly laid out his clothes while he thawed some rice his mother had put in the freezer, then ate breakfast After that he took a shower, and dried off his hair while sitting on the bed He shouldn't have done that His body heated up by the shower, the still brand-new sheets co to He didn't re his eyes ”Eh What'd I do now What the heck”, he said when he realized it was already past nine o'clock The opening cere

Jerked awake like a puppet, he fell into a state of panic as he looked in theslept on it, but he didn't have enough tiain He cheated with the dryer as much as he could, threw on a suit and flew out of the apart He got on two trains later than he should have by the schedule, the right shoes on, but the wrong socks Without even realizing it, he had put on his custo sneaker socks Indeed, with his stiff new shoes, when he sat, he felt a weird chill around his ankles He felt helpless

He dashed froe entrance cere his seat, he composed himself like a perfect freshh he found hirand occasion That wasn't from lack of sleep, nor from bedhead

It was because, he realized, he was the only one entirely alone

He wasn't even trying to be observant: the place was noisy the whole ti It was because everybody else had somebody to talk to If they'd coh school, they'd already forether, and if not, they were usually seated with their parents Usually

”Parents these days don't go to college entrance ceremonies!” ”Thatit Everybody's going to think I'm some sort of mama's boy!” ”Absolutely ridiculous!” ”Parents don't nore entrance ceremonies!” After Banri's complaints, his ht this just in case”, she said, then put a companion ticket for the ad precious He hadn't been all that seriously wishi+ng for her not to come But then he whined absurdly like a little kid, ”I don't want you to coht was a normal parent-child relationshi+p

And now, having gotten here, already discouraged, but above all, feeling guilty of being disloyal to his parents () It weighed heavily on hione through the Yaesu north entrance ticket gate, disappearing as he saw her off

Without realizing it, he sighed pathetically as he stood still in the entrance, seeing the hair of people descending the steps, laughing together

From where he stood, he could not see anybody else as alone He rubbed his eyes with his ers Maybe it was pollen, or perhaps lack of sleep, but his eyes were itching strangely A guy who forgot his handkerchief certainly wouldn't have brought eyedrops with him either

Things aren't looking good--- yeah, even as early as today, it looked like things are going to keep on going badly

”You gonna ride the train? Or walk?”

”Why bother going up to the station? It just makes me tired I prefer to walk”

In front of the paralyzed Banri's eyes, two guys walked by in suits, loosening their neckties

From the auditorium, he had to make it over to the freshman orientation by himself, one hour later over on his depart to the guide map that had been passed out to theh he had just arrived in the capitol, that didn't mean he'd just crept in from the wilderness, nor that he was all that nervous about what he had to do What was confusing fro the auditoriu in two

Perhaps, the people turning north were going to the station Those going south alking With the weather so nice, he wanted to walk, but the walking route wasn't noted on the ht's disaster still fresh in his ain in the streets ”But from now on, I will have to find the way everywhere by , still hesitating for a while, then he finally made up his mind and went down the steps to the street

He decided to stick close to the pair, who preferred to walk ”From this point on we're a trio!”, he whispered to the backs of the two in front of hirey suits, just like Banri

Still lacking the courage totheir pace Though things were a bit uncoht now, eventually their classes and studies would draw thes like ”Honestly, at the opening cere you two”, and then they would be able to laugh about it all Banri's pursuit still unnoticed, the talked on steadily At length the entire crowd of freshmen had flowed out of the auditoriuether, theyby If you didn't look too close, you could wind up confusing the freshmen and the businessmen When,

”Ah, it's rather hot today, isn't it? Let's go get some ice cream”

”Really?”

The right-hand guy spoke on a whiuy's head, Banri's eyebrows rose without thinking

”Really Why don't we stop by the next convenience store? I'll eat ice cream”

Do you really want to eat so ceremony has just ended, and you want ice cream from a convenience store in the middle of the way to the orientation, when the tiuy's head ”Forget it” You on the left, say it! Just what he was going to do while those guys ate ice cream, he had no idea

”In that case I'll have soht to be a 7-Eleven around here somewhere”

”Yeah, there was a 7-Eleven But where was it, I wonder?”

They didn't hear Banri's silentthe slow stream of passersby, the two turned down a narrow side street This was the ti to the other freshmen Banri should have done that, but he suffered a lapse in judght ahead, it wasn't easy to distinguish freshone along with the tn the side street ”Ah ah ah” Ignoring Banri, whose conscience tried quietly to hurry his like, ”Hmm, 7-Eleven, 7-Eleven Over there? Over here?” Those two stayed cool and collected as they went along unfa such doubts, he turned left and right, straying froht way,

”Ah, it wasn't a 7-Eleven after all”

They were in front of a Family Mart

The two of the Banri's presence yet, who stood there blinking his eyes rapidly fro what else to do, he followed suit, leaving a little distance between theazines, while the tere fishi+ng in the ice-cream case After some ten seconds, he made up his mind, ”I'll have to eat too” In order to look noruys were doing After looking sidelong to ister ice-crea on his most innocent expression, he peered into the ice-crearabbed the first one at hand, ”Ah I'd like so such a face while the two paid their bill, he queued behind theister However,

”But of course, froot orientation, and ice cream could be a real mess We don't really have e our mind”

”Well, that ister is yours, we're leaving”

”Ehh!?”

The two very politely gave their turn in line to Banri and went to put the ice-creams back in their case The part-time store-clerk wasn't even bothered ”Next please”, he said, waving Banri forward Not having any idea what else to do, he reluctantly handed over the ice-creaot out a 10,000 yen bill ”First the larger change”, five-thousand, six-thousand, seven-thousand ”Then the s, and during that time, the two left the store

---What the heck? What am I supposed to do?

Shocked stiff, saying ”no thanks” for a bag, he took the ice-crea away his wallet, Banri left the store in a daze ”Which way did those two turn?”, he couldn't spot the foruys ”Cal hi that way I know that much, no problem”

When he looked at it, he realized what he bought was a Gari-Gari-Kun Whatever, let's eat I should only worry after that Banri shook his head to clear his panicky mind, then unwrapped his ice-crea too frozen, so after biting into it, ”I have to put off eating this”, he realized

He took a looong breath

”What's this? What a”

What an idiot

By the time he had realized it, the likely-to-be-important orientation ithin thirtyhis ice-cream alone in front of the convenience store The form of an idiot, who fell into this too unreasonable situation was reflected in the mirror mounted on the ID-picture machine across the street from the store

He wore a dark grey suit, with a large light-green envelope He held a light blue popsicle in hand The hair drooping over his ruddy cheeks, was lighter than expected Nonetheless, biting into the ice-cream, the features themselves looked much more composed than how he had previously perceived them Even at a time like this, ”Wow If I look athis hand on his chin, but

”Whaa?”

He noticed that the iether with him Like a fool exposed, he turned around

What was reflected in the photo-ID machine's mirror wasn't himself

Dressed in a si the sa the same ice cream was another person Their eyes met, then looked away ain and looked at the guy doing exactly the sauy was a fresh hi? Ah, what,this, he wanted to keep things lighthearted,

”Huh? Ah? Oo're ya?”

Histoo well, chilled by the ice-crea out

Nonetheless, with body language, pointing at hiet the point across,

”Hogu”

The guy, too, while desperately trying to s a bigback at Banri's face Holding his fingertip to his ,

”Well, actually, I the way to the college, I don't know it very well”

His voice was lower than expected from his looks

Without thinking, Banri gave a good long look at the other's face Though it was just a for uy for hiuy had much more composed features He was also a bit taller than Banri, his hair better kept, his suit fit his strong shoulders well

”I figured I would follow after soht behind you And when you went in there, I thought, 'What a to do now? Well, why not? Why not just stick together?'”

”And fro it off

Without thinking, Banri laughed ”What!?”, he said, his voice now cohtly

”Then really, ere doing exactly the sa, both of us I don't know the way either, and I followed after other guys fro been left behind, 'What a”

”Huh? Really?”

”Really I don't know the way at all”

Still holding their ice-crea what to do with it, they looked at each other for several seconds In the end, they wound up laughing once more Weren't they just the pair of oddballs? They felt like a heavy lid that was stuffed into their sto

”So of similar people I'm Tada Banri 'Tada' h my name is made up from 'Man' and 'ri', it isn't 'Manri', but rather 'Banri' I' law You can call me Banri”

”Oh good, I'll be studying law too I'isawa Mitsuo It means that 'the s are thick by the side of the swaht in the center' You don't have to be forht froh school?”

”I' How about you, Yana-ssan?”

”Yana-ssan? Wait- a year older!? Really? You don't look like it--- Well, it's fine I'h, ah, is it OK if I speak casually like this?”

”Of course I mean, you don't even have to ask”

”I'ht I live by myself Where ya from?”

”I live close to here, but alone too”

”Yeah, freedom! We're alike! Let's be friends!”

As if raising a toast, Banri raised his half-eaten Gari-Gari-Kun to the level of his eyes Yanagisawa raised his too the same way, and then they both finished off their treats in one breath Throwing away the sticks, off they went, and finally before long they were able to return to the main street

By theether they weren't all that concerned Co soul around late at night, this time they could just ask soine doing that

Chuckling to hilance at the already overly faisawa

”Because unfortunately there wasn't anybody to talk with until now, I'd really been rather worried I saw that other people were already a worse”

”Ah, I was thinking that too Especially forI didn't have for a long ti to an affiliated school”

”You've been going to an affiliated school since elementary?”

Nodding, Yanagisawa rapidly h Banri was not froious private school Over the next four years, the two of the this private university, but that other school was higher in rank in every possible way

”Wha? Really? How come you didn't just advance to the university!? If you just stay on the escalator it alorks out What a? Did I just”

Banri reflexively shut up, stopping hi What a fool he was He was being insensitive Maybe it wasn't he didn't, but that couldn't advance Suddenly being raised fro out of his control

”Ex, excuseI'reat start on this day Ah, the e”

All these apologies were depressing Looking at Banri's face, who held hisaimlessly,

”By no oing to be a long story”

Yanagisaaved one of his hands in front of his fine shaped chin His gesture of ”Let's talk this over slowly some other time”, reached Banri as well ”Slowly, some other time” I'll tell you e have more time By all means, come over for a visit, OK? You can even have Bubuzuke ---Ah!

Slooowly he took one step away froisawa looked at Banri's strangely fixed smile, who looked like a fool

Banri was thinking he'd gone and done it Last night, before getting lost in the neighborhood, he'd been looking on the net Ae students posted on a site, there was a human-relations item: 'Pay special attention to avoid overly fa! There are possible landmines!' What should he do in a situation where he was the one requiring special attention? Unable to help himself, he slapped himself once on the head like a comic story teller

”I'm such an idiot, an idiot lands, after he's taken so much trouble to become my friend”

”Huh? What's up? Are you perhaps troubled about what just happened? It's not that big a deal It's not a long dragged out story, well, it seems you are worried for some unknown reason, so I will explain it in short I had caused so the opposite sex at the affiliated school I was fed up, and needed e student, so I took the outside exam on my oill”

”It's not such a big deal, really”, expressed Yanagisawa as he scratched his pro it,

”Hyuuu!”

Banri couldn't whistle, so he said this instead

Carefully co his arer while his shoulders shook, he intended to express ”You're great!” the best way he could, within the limits of as acceptable

”Huh The opposite sex?”

If he kept his excitement at this level, then there shouldn't be any problems But, in truth Banri wanted to be evenwith the girls is super cool! A love triangle!? An affair!? Forbidden love!? Let irl trouble! Get that power-up! Super ju,

”Sooo, if sos happen to theirlfriend? Eh, eh, a!?”

He stopped right there

”No, you're not”

”Don't goup stuff!”

With a fast half-step, he had drawn right next to Yanagisawa

”No, but, its no case talking about it And by the way she's not irlfriend”

”Not your girlfriend!? What did you just say!?”

Isn't? And, while allowing Banri to get closer, the strangely serious Yanagisawa nodded Then,

”It was not a good thing, absolutely not It was right So to speak,”

Stopped by a red light at a crosswalk, he looked a little into the distance and then turned back to Banri

”a disaster, it seemed like”

”Even so what does that,” he tried to find out ht changed to green

On this side of the crosswalk, a taxi was parked Banri, with Yanagisawa alongside, had just started crossing in front of it at the light Wham! The taxi's door flew open To the asphalt descended the spike of a high-heel shoe, the hard sound echoing like a hammer

They looked over there by reflex

Banri gasped In an instant, all his thoughts were swept away

The stor to see, but this, this was overwhel

Ale bouquet of scarlet roses shi+ning in violent contrast to the deep blue sky, deep deep deep red

Banri's gaze was torn towards it, as it was raised overhead diagonally by that person

”Whop!?”

With all her strength, she struck the side of his face ”It hurts!”, he shouted out, ”No! It's cold!”, he shouted out again, but in the end he hadn't any voice

A cold spray of water droplets splashed over everything nearby Coround The rear of his brand new suit-pants hit the ground, and he watched asHe was in the wrong place at the wrong time

It was Yanagisaas being attacked Yanagisawa got slapped across the face from above and the sides, three times, four times, by a bouquet of fresh, deep red roses Each ti like drops of blood

And then, the finishi+ng blow! From directly overhead the bouquet caisawa's chest

Banri was speechless

Yanagisaas too

The rose petals fluttered about vividly, overloading their senses with the intensely sweet smell of nectar In the middle of this deep red air raid,

”I've removed the thorns”

Showing a wide, ”perfect” s was calm of that woman

Who she hat she was, such questions were fading away like the fog in theas if gently sprinkled with drops of water --- the deep red flower petals as it were an aura about her, the queen of roses completely

”Congratulations on your admission! That's all I wanted to say”

”This can't be”, Yanagisawa groaned in a low voice, holding the roses in his ar his head left and right Banri, still the dumbfounded outsider, simply lifted his eyes to her smile

Her skin was perfect, shi+ning like the finest silk Her hair was perfect, deep brown, curled without a strand out of place Her figure was perfect, her head slightly tilted to the side Wearing a snohite one-piece lace dress, her neck and ears highlighted by pearls, with fine high-heeled shoes and a deep purple handbag at her wrist, in every way the woman was perfect That such a person could even live and breathe was a complete mystery, she was so unrealistically perfect Even her voice was as clear as tinkling bells

”So silly of you, Mitsuo”

Suddenly intense, she looked down fixedly at Yanagisawa fro the salossy red as the roses, just like flower petals, she continued s perfectly

”Did you think you could fool e? Did you seriously think you could escape? There's just no way You can't fool me with tricks like that For Mitsuo to run away fro cannot be”

Mitsuo - - - She is calling isawa by his name

Still duround, their earlier conversation cairl who is not his girlfriend, perhaps, after all

”Mitsuo has been mine for-eeever”

”Wrwroooongg!”

”You're ain So, see you later!”

She half ran back over to the taxi, which was still parked there Just before getting in, she noticed a flower petal stuck to her hair She picked it gently with her fingertip and put it in the palisawa, like a kiss The petal fluttered through the air, clinging once to the tip of Banri's nose, but soon the wind carried it away

Leaving the two of them and the roses behind on the road, the taxi took off

”Wha,”

He looked over at Yanagisawa

”Whaaaaaaa!”

Still holding the bouquet of roses, hair disheveled, Yanagisawa let out a long shout Banri ed to stand up first, and extended his hand towards him,

”Yana-ssan, get ahold of yourself! Who was that!? I mean, what just happened!?”

Many people were looking towards the at Yanagisawa He was still sitting on the ground, holding an enor a bit out of place in the ordinary streetscape for sure He was just like a time traveler out of so the street, groups of see this way Stares expressing surprise ers, laughing

Hey, look Wow, incredible What's up with that rose man? With that envelope and all, he's one of the fresh? Isn't that rather aard? There wasall around

A bit disoriented, Yanagisawa stood up Right then, as if in one last attack, the piled up flower petals ca the at the bouquet of roses held to his chest,

”Oover my student life in one day, it's over! Hahaha ahahaha!”

Yanagisawa gave a distracted look and thrust one hand into his pocket And then 'Whee!', pulling out a handful of petals that stuck there, he tossed theht Banri, his shoulders twitching As far as probleh of his own

”Hold on, Yana-ssan, you've really got to get ahold of yourself! Moreover, look we have to reach the orientation in time!”

”Aeous roses with me to the orientation!? I'd just be e out like a sore thumb, and then, for four years of student life, what'll I do!? What do they mean by 'Rose Man' anyway! Like some kind of 'Ham Man'!”