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messiah novel (prologue)
The 27th year of the imperial calendar, Russian federation, the outskirts of the capital Moscow
Right now is about the time that the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan, Kaidou Eiri recalled.
One second later he laughed.
It was funny that he cared in this kind of situation whether or not the cherry blossoms had bloomed. He hadn't had that sort of graceful life up until now. After all, he hadn't even graduated normally from middle school.
When hearing about cherry blossoms, all Japanese people would recall a nostalgic scene. But there was no such thing for him.
When he thinks about spring, there are only unpleasant memories. The memory of tepid air and blood... Having fled the place without knowing what's what, he gathered his thoughts while squatting under some structure, dripping wet-----
For Eiri, spring is the scent of rain. Rather than washing everything away, it's more like it makes things sprout out all at once, like a bad premonition...
(Stop, right now isn't the kind of situation to drift off into sentimental thoughts.)
He forcibly tried to shake up his brain, prone to trying to escape from reality.
His brain had become hazy from how much blood was drained from it. The muscles in his body ached as if they had all been strained. They had only attacked the vital points of his body, but his muscles were still shaking.
Among the people from all the continents, the ones from the north were especially good at torture. If he hadn't been careful, the internal bleeding could have done him in.
(It's dangerous, isn't it. My nose could fall off from frostbite.)
With his current condition, in which it was hard to even move his body, Eiri tried to faintly recall what day it was today.
The sixth day of his confinement. Four o' clock in the afternoon.
The Russian federation, the foreign information agency in the forest of Yasenevo.
The cold of the northern winter freezes all liquid in the cells in an instant. Of all the continents that can be infiltrated, the infiltration of the north during winter is especially difficult. Just like the boss always likes to say, although it's possible to infiltrate Korea or China and Taiwan, you'll freeze to death in the north.
An old legend is spread by mouth, a story about a fairy-like cold called Morozko. He brings happiness to the girl who told him that she wasn't cold, but he lets the unpleasant girl who speaks coldly freeze to death.
For the Slavic people it's a virtue to be obedient to the strong, being honest or unique isn't important to them.
Those who aren't obedient are killed. But if you don't run away, you're killed as well. That's the fate of a foreign person like Eiri, who's caught as a terrorist.
(Soon the snow will melt. If I don't think of a way to get moving...)
He had to escape from there before the real Morozko would turn up.
But the spies from the north were already aware that he had those kinds of thoughts. They gradually increased the torture at fixed intervals, hurting Eiri to the point that he would only barely not die from it.
It'd be no good if he was hurt so bad on that day that he couldn't escape. The enemy expected that he wouldn't be able to do it if he didn't at least somewhat recover from his broken ribs or damaged lung.
There was no way he could think of a way to escape. The foreign information agency of Russia in this forest was completely different than the modern head office of the police that was entirely covered in glass. It had a longer history. The isolation cell Eiri had been thrown into now was on the second floor of the basement, and it was very old, judging by the echoes.
The building was so old that the water that spilled from the toilet several times was red from all the rust. Since Russia doesn't manage the hygiene of its drinking water, there's often foreign substances mixed into the water due to holes in the water pipes. But no matter how many times Eiri flushed the toilet, the red didn't go away. If he'd delve into the wall just a little bit, he'd be able to see the old drainage pipes.
That was how he discovered a way to escape.
The problem was that he didn't have that kind of strength left right now. Nor the stamina to constantly keep digging through the concrete with a spoon.
----- It's already impossible, isn't it.
At that moment the thought of death passed through his mind like a spring breeze.
After having received so much pain, it's a pleasant feeling to just give up everything. It would be nothing more than impossible to still have the strength and stamina to get out of the forest and escape Russia after escaping this prison. Since the information agency knows Eiri is an enemy, they'll dispose of him without hesitating.
It would be easy enough to pretend he died in Russia of natural causes. If he were thrown out in the middle of the night on a day with a snow storm, he'd completely just seem like a body that froze to death.
------ But when it comes to dying, freezing to death isn't that bad.
Before Eiri went to Russia, his boss had said something like that when he sent him out.
Aren't you glad it's winter? If it'd be summer, there would be rivers. It's painful to die by drowning-----
(Whether it's freezing to death or dying through drowning... either way, either way, it sucks.)
Even if Eiri would die here, no one would cry. He has no family back home. Nor friends. He was trained at the school for public safety to become a spy---- It's commonly known that once you leave Maru school, you'll never see your classmates again.
Sharing your feelings with someone would be detrimental to the mission. And if you have any lingering feelings, the enemy could try to use it to win you over.
If he'd be caught outside, even the Vienna Convention that ensured the safety of diplomats wouldn't be able to protect people like Eiri. Eiri isn't a diplomat. No one would come to help him. That's the rule.
It's since he's "Sakura."
"Even if someone from section five dies, there's no one who cries for them."
A classmate who Eiri had trained with for a long time at Maru school once told him that right before they graduated.
"There's no funeral either. Just..."
"Just?"
"When we die, the cherry blossom trees cry instead."
Maru school. It's an absolutely secret school that exists to train special spies, Sakura.
Setagaya, Okamoto. Because of the circular irrigation canals near the school, the school was often called "Maru"*. At the school's entrance, there are two old entangled cherry blossom trees.
Since the brances of the cherry trees on both sides of the small stone entrance are entangled, it's started to look like an arch. These are the only cherry blossom trees on the school grounds, and everyone who goes to Maru school has to pass under this arch.
The past of everyone who goes to that school has been erased. No one even knows that they're alive. So even if someone fails a mission and dies, there's no one who cries for them.
But the cherry blossoms will cry. Every year during spring those cherry blossom trees let their petals fall like tears for those for whom no one cries, and who have disappeared quietly.
Although you'd never really hear any student you'd meet at Maru school talk about it, it has for some reason still been passed down like a historical fact.
The entangled cherry blossom trees of Maru school. The branches that have grown long enough to have turned into a cherry blossom arch.
Eiri wondered if it was since he lost blood during the torture. That it was why he was remembering the cherry blossoms.
(I want to see them again, just one more time.)
It was strange. He doesn't have any good memories of spring. The air suddenly gets tepid, and there's a sweet smell just about anywhere you go. Even so, right now he remembered those cherry blossoms. It had been several years since he left Maru school. Even though... he hates spring.
(It's no good, don't give up yet. I haven't died yet, ----- yet.)
Right now he had to get back as much of his strength as possible. Since he was still being given meals, the foreign information agency hadn't discovered yet that Eiri is a Sakura. If his wounds would heal and his strength return, he could dig just a little bit into the old drainage pipes and escape. Until then it was time to wait. Or he would die in this place where he can't even eat rice.
Klank, klank. There were footsteps.
For a moment he thought it was a staff member bringing him a meal. But the footsteps were different. The past few days three staff members had brought him food, but this sound was different compared to those.
Maybe it was the staff of the information agency. Maybe they had finally found out that he was Sakura.
A cold feeling spread throughout his empty stomach. What. Just now he was uncharacteristically reminded of the entangled cherry blossom trees, like the final thing to flash before his eyes before dying.*
Klank, klank, gradually the footsteps were approaching.
They didn't belong to a soldier, since it wasn't the way they're trained to walk. A heel made of slightly hard rubber, and judging from the sound the shoe size was about twenty-six. It wasn't large. The shoes were either new, or the heel hadn't gotten much shaved off it yet.
Those footsteps sounded familiar. In fact, when he was trained at Maru school----
(No way.)
A certain possibility came to mind, which he instantly tried to drown out.
That was impossible. The Sakura who graduated from Maru school weren't allowed to have private contact or friendships. And when you carried out a solo mission in a foreign country, you rarely got paired up with someone. That was why you ended up knowing very little of where your classmates were and what they were doing. And even if you did know, it was strictly forbidden to help out your friends if they had been captured. Sakura had a bullet for that purpose.
Inside of Maru school where Sakura are trained, there are the headquarters for the special section five. Because it's an old crypt in the style of a church, it's known as "Church." Within Church, there's a few absolute rules.
Sakura members will hold their silence in protection of Church.
Sakura members who leave / graduate from Church will have no contact with Church.
Sakura members will not aid / rescue another Sakura member who has failed in their mission.
Sakura members will not become friends or lovers.
But there is one exception to these rules.
The klanking footsteps stopped on the other side of the door.
There was someone with a slight habit of giving little kicks while they were walking. He was a relic of when Eiri was still living in the ordinary world. Eiri only knew one person like that.
It was impossible that it would be that guy. But there was no other option.
"He came."
Although Eiri's heart had been painted over with despair, a single ray of light now broke through as he realised it.
It wasn't a dream. There's no way he would have misheard those footsteps.
"My Messiah."
No one could rescue Sakura who have failed their mission.
----- But the partner who they lived together with at Maru School, their "Messiah", is the only exception.
( back to index. )
notes:
* although "maru" is spelled in katakana throughout the story like you would use for foreign words, the kanji for "maru" means "circle." hence the school's nickname coming from the circular canals.
* the japanese text at the part about his life flashing before his eyes talks about a revolving lantern, which is a specific concept a little harder to put into words cohesively, please check out this page for more information about it if you're curious.
Right now is about the time that the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan, Kaidou Eiri recalled.
One second later he laughed.
It was funny that he cared in this kind of situation whether or not the cherry blossoms had bloomed. He hadn't had that sort of graceful life up until now. After all, he hadn't even graduated normally from middle school.
When hearing about cherry blossoms, all Japanese people would recall a nostalgic scene. But there was no such thing for him.
When he thinks about spring, there are only unpleasant memories. The memory of tepid air and blood... Having fled the place without knowing what's what, he gathered his thoughts while squatting under some structure, dripping wet-----
For Eiri, spring is the scent of rain. Rather than washing everything away, it's more like it makes things sprout out all at once, like a bad premonition...
(Stop, right now isn't the kind of situation to drift off into sentimental thoughts.)
He forcibly tried to shake up his brain, prone to trying to escape from reality.
His brain had become hazy from how much blood was drained from it. The muscles in his body ached as if they had all been strained. They had only attacked the vital points of his body, but his muscles were still shaking.
Among the people from all the continents, the ones from the north were especially good at torture. If he hadn't been careful, the internal bleeding could have done him in.
(It's dangerous, isn't it. My nose could fall off from frostbite.)
With his current condition, in which it was hard to even move his body, Eiri tried to faintly recall what day it was today.
The sixth day of his confinement. Four o' clock in the afternoon.
The Russian federation, the foreign information agency in the forest of Yasenevo.
The cold of the northern winter freezes all liquid in the cells in an instant. Of all the continents that can be infiltrated, the infiltration of the north during winter is especially difficult. Just like the boss always likes to say, although it's possible to infiltrate Korea or China and Taiwan, you'll freeze to death in the north.
An old legend is spread by mouth, a story about a fairy-like cold called Morozko. He brings happiness to the girl who told him that she wasn't cold, but he lets the unpleasant girl who speaks coldly freeze to death.
For the Slavic people it's a virtue to be obedient to the strong, being honest or unique isn't important to them.
Those who aren't obedient are killed. But if you don't run away, you're killed as well. That's the fate of a foreign person like Eiri, who's caught as a terrorist.
(Soon the snow will melt. If I don't think of a way to get moving...)
He had to escape from there before the real Morozko would turn up.
But the spies from the north were already aware that he had those kinds of thoughts. They gradually increased the torture at fixed intervals, hurting Eiri to the point that he would only barely not die from it.
It'd be no good if he was hurt so bad on that day that he couldn't escape. The enemy expected that he wouldn't be able to do it if he didn't at least somewhat recover from his broken ribs or damaged lung.
There was no way he could think of a way to escape. The foreign information agency of Russia in this forest was completely different than the modern head office of the police that was entirely covered in glass. It had a longer history. The isolation cell Eiri had been thrown into now was on the second floor of the basement, and it was very old, judging by the echoes.
The building was so old that the water that spilled from the toilet several times was red from all the rust. Since Russia doesn't manage the hygiene of its drinking water, there's often foreign substances mixed into the water due to holes in the water pipes. But no matter how many times Eiri flushed the toilet, the red didn't go away. If he'd delve into the wall just a little bit, he'd be able to see the old drainage pipes.
That was how he discovered a way to escape.
The problem was that he didn't have that kind of strength left right now. Nor the stamina to constantly keep digging through the concrete with a spoon.
----- It's already impossible, isn't it.
At that moment the thought of death passed through his mind like a spring breeze.
After having received so much pain, it's a pleasant feeling to just give up everything. It would be nothing more than impossible to still have the strength and stamina to get out of the forest and escape Russia after escaping this prison. Since the information agency knows Eiri is an enemy, they'll dispose of him without hesitating.
It would be easy enough to pretend he died in Russia of natural causes. If he were thrown out in the middle of the night on a day with a snow storm, he'd completely just seem like a body that froze to death.
------ But when it comes to dying, freezing to death isn't that bad.
Before Eiri went to Russia, his boss had said something like that when he sent him out.
Aren't you glad it's winter? If it'd be summer, there would be rivers. It's painful to die by drowning-----
(Whether it's freezing to death or dying through drowning... either way, either way, it sucks.)
Even if Eiri would die here, no one would cry. He has no family back home. Nor friends. He was trained at the school for public safety to become a spy---- It's commonly known that once you leave Maru school, you'll never see your classmates again.
Sharing your feelings with someone would be detrimental to the mission. And if you have any lingering feelings, the enemy could try to use it to win you over.
If he'd be caught outside, even the Vienna Convention that ensured the safety of diplomats wouldn't be able to protect people like Eiri. Eiri isn't a diplomat. No one would come to help him. That's the rule.
It's since he's "Sakura."
"Even if someone from section five dies, there's no one who cries for them."
A classmate who Eiri had trained with for a long time at Maru school once told him that right before they graduated.
"There's no funeral either. Just..."
"Just?"
"When we die, the cherry blossom trees cry instead."
Maru school. It's an absolutely secret school that exists to train special spies, Sakura.
Setagaya, Okamoto. Because of the circular irrigation canals near the school, the school was often called "Maru"*. At the school's entrance, there are two old entangled cherry blossom trees.
Since the brances of the cherry trees on both sides of the small stone entrance are entangled, it's started to look like an arch. These are the only cherry blossom trees on the school grounds, and everyone who goes to Maru school has to pass under this arch.
The past of everyone who goes to that school has been erased. No one even knows that they're alive. So even if someone fails a mission and dies, there's no one who cries for them.
But the cherry blossoms will cry. Every year during spring those cherry blossom trees let their petals fall like tears for those for whom no one cries, and who have disappeared quietly.
Although you'd never really hear any student you'd meet at Maru school talk about it, it has for some reason still been passed down like a historical fact.
The entangled cherry blossom trees of Maru school. The branches that have grown long enough to have turned into a cherry blossom arch.
Eiri wondered if it was since he lost blood during the torture. That it was why he was remembering the cherry blossoms.
(I want to see them again, just one more time.)
It was strange. He doesn't have any good memories of spring. The air suddenly gets tepid, and there's a sweet smell just about anywhere you go. Even so, right now he remembered those cherry blossoms. It had been several years since he left Maru school. Even though... he hates spring.
(It's no good, don't give up yet. I haven't died yet, ----- yet.)
Right now he had to get back as much of his strength as possible. Since he was still being given meals, the foreign information agency hadn't discovered yet that Eiri is a Sakura. If his wounds would heal and his strength return, he could dig just a little bit into the old drainage pipes and escape. Until then it was time to wait. Or he would die in this place where he can't even eat rice.
Klank, klank. There were footsteps.
For a moment he thought it was a staff member bringing him a meal. But the footsteps were different. The past few days three staff members had brought him food, but this sound was different compared to those.
Maybe it was the staff of the information agency. Maybe they had finally found out that he was Sakura.
A cold feeling spread throughout his empty stomach. What. Just now he was uncharacteristically reminded of the entangled cherry blossom trees, like the final thing to flash before his eyes before dying.*
Klank, klank, gradually the footsteps were approaching.
They didn't belong to a soldier, since it wasn't the way they're trained to walk. A heel made of slightly hard rubber, and judging from the sound the shoe size was about twenty-six. It wasn't large. The shoes were either new, or the heel hadn't gotten much shaved off it yet.
Those footsteps sounded familiar. In fact, when he was trained at Maru school----
(No way.)
A certain possibility came to mind, which he instantly tried to drown out.
That was impossible. The Sakura who graduated from Maru school weren't allowed to have private contact or friendships. And when you carried out a solo mission in a foreign country, you rarely got paired up with someone. That was why you ended up knowing very little of where your classmates were and what they were doing. And even if you did know, it was strictly forbidden to help out your friends if they had been captured. Sakura had a bullet for that purpose.
Inside of Maru school where Sakura are trained, there are the headquarters for the special section five. Because it's an old crypt in the style of a church, it's known as "Church." Within Church, there's a few absolute rules.
Sakura members will hold their silence in protection of Church.
Sakura members who leave / graduate from Church will have no contact with Church.
Sakura members will not aid / rescue another Sakura member who has failed in their mission.
Sakura members will not become friends or lovers.
But there is one exception to these rules.
The klanking footsteps stopped on the other side of the door.
There was someone with a slight habit of giving little kicks while they were walking. He was a relic of when Eiri was still living in the ordinary world. Eiri only knew one person like that.
It was impossible that it would be that guy. But there was no other option.
"He came."
Although Eiri's heart had been painted over with despair, a single ray of light now broke through as he realised it.
It wasn't a dream. There's no way he would have misheard those footsteps.
"My Messiah."
No one could rescue Sakura who have failed their mission.
----- But the partner who they lived together with at Maru School, their "Messiah", is the only exception.
notes:
* although "maru" is spelled in katakana throughout the story like you would use for foreign words, the kanji for "maru" means "circle." hence the school's nickname coming from the circular canals.
* the japanese text at the part about his life flashing before his eyes talks about a revolving lantern, which is a specific concept a little harder to put into words cohesively, please check out this page for more information about it if you're curious.
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