Die – Part 01
Monday, June 26th. 5 a.m.
There weren’t any variety shows on TV, just some shopping program called Japanets Takahata. As usual, Eu was watching it. Judging by her damp hair, she must’ve snuck into the bath at some point. Sera had also been sitting the whole time, eyes glued to the screen like Eu.
“Ayumu, I’ve been thinking,” Sera said.
Those clear and pretty, jade eyes fixed straight on me. She rarely let her serious expression waver, so her words made me a little nervous.
“Thinking about what?” I asked.
“Names. I believe names are very important.”
“Uh… well, yeah, things get confusing without them.”
“They’re necessary, right? I actually came up with a new technique. But I can’t quite figure out a name that ends in Reversal. Would you help me think of one?”
That’s it? Man, I got tense for nothing.
“Does it really have to end in Reversal?”
“If possible, yes. It’s a secret sword technique.”
So, secret sword techniques needed a something-Reversal kind of name?
Ah, I got it. She was obsessed with Swallow Reversal. That’s gotta be it. No deeper reason.
“Well, I haven’t seen the move yet,” I said.
“You glide in like this…”
She tried explaining it with hand gestures, but it didn’t help at all. Still, watching her so serious about it made her look kinda cute.
“What about… Secret Art: Crane’s Gratitude Reversal?”
Wouldn’t that be like repaying kindness with spite?
“Yeah, maybe not,” I said with a dry chuckle.
“I see,” she muttered, slightly disappointed. “Then how about… Ether Table Reversal?” [1]
“There are some sword names you can rip off and some you just can’t. That one’s definitely the latter.”
“Oh, come on. Everyone’s probably forgotten it by now. And only people who know the reference would even get it.”
“Nope. Still a no,” I dismissed, scratching my head. “Besides, that’s not even a secret sword technique. It’s a magic sword move.”
“I see.” She still sounded dejected.
“Just show it to me sometime. Once I’ve seen it, I’ll help you name it.”
“Understood.”
Well then, guess I’d better get ready for school. If I didn’t leave while the sun was still weak, I might not make it at all.
As I stood, Eu looked up at me. She tapped her pen on the table.
“Stay home today.”
“Don’t go, big brother!”
Her lovely eyes locked onto me. I asked her if something was up, but she didn’t respond.
I wasn’t sure if I should listen to her. I figured Sera could handle any enemies that would show up. I was a zombie, sure, but technically I was still a high school student. Whether I liked it or not, I had a duty to go to school.
“I’ll try to come back early,” I said.
After a pause, Eu gave a small nod.
As I climbed the stairs with rhythm in my steps, I passed Haruna, who was coming down. She was wearing a sleeveless polo shirt and cuffed shorts. It looked pretty good on her, actually.
“Hey, Haruna.”
“Hm? What is it?” Haruna blinked her big eyes twice.
I told her everything I’d talked about with Big Teach, every last detail. I also explained that the Artifact hunt was officially over.
“You talked to Big Teach?! She’s not someone a guy like you can just casually chat with. She’s amazing! She’s Big Teach, you know!”
For some reason, she grabbed my arm, swept my legs, threw an upper backfist at my torso, and followed up with a flurry of Seven Star Celestial Elbows.[2]
When I asked her what made Big Teach so amazing, she said, “She’s a hero, a sage, a martial artist, a warrior, a priest, a mage, a merchant, a bandit, and even a hedonist!”
The last few sounded more like someone with no direction in life. A merchant, a bandit, and a hedonist. What a chaotic résumé.
“Anyway, she told you to focus on recovering your mana,” I added. “You can’t go back the way you are now, right?”
“Yeah, but… I’ve kinda been thinking maybe I’m fine staying like this. I mean, I gotta come here to fight Megalo anyway, and it’s not like anyone’s waiting for me back home.”
Just for a second, she showed an unusually lonely look. I gently placed a hand on her head.
“Staying here means you’ll have to keep making me lunch, you know?” I said.
“Guess I’ve got no choice, then. Oh! I made something amazing again today. I’m confident this one’s a masterpiece!”
She thumped her small chest with a grin, the same bright smile she always wore when it was time to eat.
After watching her bounce lightly down the stairs, I returned to my room. I changed into my uniform and grabbed my bag. It was empty. All my textbooks and notebooks were still stuffed in my classroom locker.
Oh right, I had P.E. today. I needed to pack my gym clothes. And I had to get my lunch from Haruna too.
Hopefully, today would just be a quiet, uneventful day.
There was probably not another zombie out there hoping for peace as much as I did.
Monday’s schedule started with P.E., the worst way to begin the week. Why was it the worst, you ask? You try exercising under the blazing sun. Zombies, by nature, are nocturnal creatures.
If we’d had class in the gymnasium, I could’ve shown off my full zombie potential, but unfortunately, today’s class was volleyball out on the field. Seriously, why not just play volleyball in the gym?
As a result, I collapsed before the match even began and got hauled off to the infirmary. I spent the rest of the morning asleep there. Just another uneventful day at school, not much worth talking about.
Well, if there was anything worth talking about, it was lunch.
Let’s go, Haruna! Show me what you’ve got!
I flipped open the lid to find braised bear paws, spiny lobster, whole shark fin, roasted suckling pig, abalone steak. Well, scraps of them, anyway. A tiny version of a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast[3] had been packed into the box. So when she said she made something amazing today, she meant it.
There were 150 items in total. Each one was ridiculously tiny. Everything was crammed in together, messy but still impressive. Where the hell did she even find all these ingredients?
“This is… incredible… and kind of disturbing. Who made this? Sera?” Orito stared in disbelief.
Blocking his chopstick attacks, I said, “It was Haruna. She also made that ultimate rolled omelet from before. I don’t let Sera cook. Not as long as I draw breath.”
“You lucky bastard!”
His chopsticks went for my face. Hah! You’ll never land a hit!
As we jabbed at each other with chopsticks, Orito suddenly grabbed the spiny lobster with his bare fingers. He knew I liked lobsters. Fucking bastard.
“Hey, good food should be shared, right?” He grinned widely.
Damn four-eyed thief. How dare you steal my lobster.
“Is it good?” I asked tearfully.
He gave a big nod. Of course it was. Even her omelet had been mind-blowingly delicious. With ingredients like this, it had to be phenomenal. If I had one complaint, it was that I couldn’t have it fresh off the stove.
1. エーテルちゃぶ台返し(Ether Table Flip) is a direct reference to 魔法剣エ—テルちやふ台返し (Magic Sword: Ether Table Flip), a joke move from Super Robot Wars Gaiden: Masō Kishin.
2. The 七星天分肘 is likely a reference to a move in the Dragon Quest series of games.
3. The Manchu–Han Imperial Feast refers to a style of cooking and a type of grand banquet that combines elements of Manchu and Han Chinese cuisine developed in the Qing dynasty of China. The meal comprised six banquets over three days with over 300 dishes. It is said that there were Thirty-Two Delicacies, referring to exotic ingredients used for the banquet. The Eight Mountain Delicacies includes such dishes as camel’s hump, bear’s paws, monkey’s brains, ape’s lips, leopard fetuses, rhinoceros tails, and deer tendons. The Eight Land Delicacies includes several precious fowls and mushrooms, and the Eight Sea Delicacies includes dried sea cucumbers, shark’s fin, bird’s nest soup and others.
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