How To Eat Life:Chapter 0-1

As usual, the teacher wearing black rimmed glasses was calling out to the students in front of the school gate. The clothes that the teacher wore were always invariably tight-fitting suits.

“Asamiya–.”

A classmate of Tobi Otogiri was caught this morning.

“Your bangs are too long. Cut them. It’s not good for your eyes. That’s why your teacher’s eyesight got worse.”

“Did Yagii-sensei also have long bangs in the past?”

“Who’s this Yagii? Well. It was long. I didn’t have this kind of hairstyle in the past. Of course.”

“Yagii-sensei, are you saying you broke the school rules?”

“It’s not Yagii, it’s Yagarashima! Your teacher went to a rural school with about 30 students in total, so there were no school rules…”

“I’ll cut it next time.”

“Absolutely cut it, Asamiya! It’s going to hurt your eyes!”

As Asamiya passed by, Yagarashima-sensei, who wore the black rimmed glasses, immediately turned his attention to another student.

“Hey, Takagi. You look pale, are you alright?”

“I’m low-pressure.”

“What is low-pressure? Low blood-pressure?”

“Yeah, Yagii-sensei.”

When another female student passed by and waved in greeting, Yagarashima-sensei jumped up with such force that his glasses slipped.

“Hey, Miyoshi! It’s not ‘mornin’,’ it's ‘good morning,’ right?”

Tobi hadn’t noticed it until now, but it seemed Yagarashima-sensei was being looked down upon by his students. In other words, he was well liked.

“Good morning.”

When Tobi greeted him as he passed by, Yagarashima-sensei said “Ah!” and smiled.

“Good morning, Otogiri!”

It was an expression that could only be thought of as a genuine smile, rather than an overjoyed look. Taken by surprise, Tobi involuntarily gave a nod.

The backpack that Tobi was carrying on his back laughed.

“I guess he’s not a bad guy.”

“...I didn’t think he was a bad person to begin with?”

When Tobi whispered back, Baku responded with a reluctant, “Is that so?”

“Ah, but—”

It was impertinent. It was the backpack’s fault.

“Don’t be hungry, damn it.”

“Haven’t you said that many times since this morning?”

Tobi had to keep his voice down so that the students heading to the school building wouldn't hear him.

“I’ll say it again and again!”

Baku didn’t care. Only Tobi could hear the backpack’s voice.

He used to think so. Actually, it was different.

But for most people, Baku didn’t talk or go on a rampage. He was just a backpack.

“Tobi, you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day, don’t you? Even I get hungry if I don’t eat something. Recently, I finally realized that.”

“I wish we had never realized…”

He sighed and rubbed his stomach. He had a proper breakfast at the facility. Today, unusually, he even got a second serving of white rice. Even so, he still felt unsatisfied.

“Nnn!...”

Baku growls and twists. He wondered about those around him. Tobi was the same.

A flat gecko-like thing was attached to the shoulder of a male student who was walking a little ahead. A little teru-teru-bozu-like thing with limbs was hanging from the hair of a female student further in front of him, spinning round and round.

“Heyy, Tobi—”

“No.”

Tobi said firmly before Baku had finished speaking.

“Come on. I haven’t said anything yet.”

Baku was dissatisfied, but it was a no. He decided not to.

Tobi knew what Baku thought. ‘Can I eat that gecko that is too flat or that spinning teru-teru-bozu?’ Baku was about to ask Tobi that.

Given a hundred steps, if those were mysterious small animals resembling mutated geckos or teru-teru-bozu, and if Baku insisted on it, he wouldn’t stop him. But no. Those weird ones weren’t reptiles or teru-teru-bozu types of creatures.

Zingai.

That’s what they are called.

Tobi sighed once more and lowered his head so as to not let the zingai into his sight as much as possible.

What happens if you eat a zingai? Don’t you know, Baku? How can you not understand? You should know.

Baku ate them.

Baku had actually eaten a classmate’s zingai.

Kon Chiami. Then Masaki Shuuji, called Masamune. Two people’s zingai, Baku had devoured. What happened as a result?

“Even I. I don’t think I’d take anything and indiscriminately eat it.”

Baku muttered apologetically.

“But… aren’t there a lot of them? Nn? Is it just my imagination?”

Tobi ignored him. But he thought the same. There certainly were many.

There were quite a few people from before who brought zingai. He hadn’t exactly counted them, but if there were 100 elementary and junior high students, a few of those were accompanied by zingai. A few of them don’t seem to be aware of their zingai, but it was probably around two or three percent anyway. If that was the case, it wouldn’t be strange to have one, two, or even a few people in the class.

It was normal for Tobi to be able to see the zingai. That’s why he wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few zingai in the classroom.

Even after he entered junior high school, he never felt it was strange. There would be zingai at this level. It was a natural feeling.

There were many.

He had never thought of it that way.

Tobi stopped when he was about to pass through the front door. A flat-gecko-like creature was clinging to the back of a female student who was changing her shoes at a shoe box in front on the left. Tobi immediately started walking again.

“What happened?”

Baku asked. Tobi pretended to be calm without answering. Inside, he was somewhat upset. He wanted to confirm the zingai he saw earlier. But he’d gone too far. He couldn’t see it from here.

It was a thin, gecko-shaped zingai. It was about five centimeters in size, and he thought it was white. It was probably a yellowish-milky white.

That zingai was clinging to the back of a female student. That was a third-year shoebox. She was a third-year female student.

Didn’t Tobi see a zingai that looked like that flat gecko?

The colors and shapes may be slightly different. He didn’t remember it clearly, but there was an overly flat gecko-like creature clinging to a male-student’s shoulder.

No way, he thought.

By chance.

Coincidentally, the two zingai resembled each other. That must be it.

Asamiya finished putting on his indoor shoes and was about to leave the shoebox.

“Good morning.”

When Tobi called out to him, Asamiya said “Eh?” for a moment. He then spun around and brushed back his long bangs.

“....Good morning. Otogiri.”

Asamiya stared at him. He must have been taken by surprise.

Earlier, Tobi took out his indoor shoes from his shoebox.

“Asamiya, you were caught. By Yagarashima-sensei.

“Ahh… Well. Yeah. It happens often.”

“Are you going to lose your eyesight?”

“That thing. He says it every time.”

“I see.”

Tobi changed into his shoes and put his outside shoes in the shoebox. He walked out of the shoebox area and into the hallway and found himself a little disappointed.

“Hey, where's that O-Ryuu guy?”

Baku muttered. It made sense to him.

Ryuuko might be there. Tobi thought so. Not what he expected, of course. About that Ryuuko. If she’s hiding behind a shoebox, she might pop out suddenly, and if you’re not prepared, you’ll be in trouble. Like Asamiya earlier, you could end up in a situation that surprises you.

Come to think of it, why was Asamiya so surprised?

Asamiya was next to Tobi, and for some reason they seemed to be walking side by side. When Tobi tried to call out to Asamiya, Asamiya said “You are,” and their voices clashed lightly.

“Ah…uh, it’s okay, Otogiri. You say it first.”

“No.”

Tobi shook his head. It was not a big deal anyways.

“I said what?”

“...Yeah. Otogiri is, what should I say… Is that the kind of character you are? I don’t know how to say it. I mean ‘friendly.’”

“‘Friendly?’”

Tobi frowned. He knew what he meant. But it wasn’t a word that was used often(1).

“Have you ever been told that?”

“I guess not.”

Asamiya chuckled. It wasn’t so much that he was laughed at and got angry. But he didn’t feel so good. His bad mood seemed to have shown on his face, and Asamiya apologized, “My bad.” Even as he said that, he was still kind of smiling.

“It’s fine, but.”

Tobi was strangely sullen to himself. He didn’t think he was angry, though. He wasn’t angry, but he was offended. It’s funny. It was inconsistent.

Very strange.

Tobi glanced back. At the end of that corridor was the infirmary. Why did Tobi turn around? He didn’t know it then. But he still caught something. As Tobi walked, he looked back again. His legs stopped.

Someone was watching Tobi.

They were not wearing a uniform. Judging by their clothes, they were not a student.

Were they a teacher? He didn’t think so.

In the hallway leading to the infirmary, a man was standing alone.

Their physique was male. He was quite large. He was wearing a brimless hat and a mask. It was a strange mask. It was painted like a mouth with bared teeth. His eyes were also distinctive. The man’s eyes were clearly looking at Tobi. Yet it was as if he didn’t see anything.

It was there, but it was nowhere. Even though he was real, he looked like he was fake.

“Otogiri?”

When Asamiya called out to him, Tobi said “Ah,” as a vague answer. He looked at Asamiya’s face and waited for a second or so.

Hey, I took my eyes off that guy.

By the time he looked back, he was gone.

“Tobi….”

Baku squirmed his backpack body, He must have said something. But he couldn’t talk to Baku here. Asamiya was with them.

As Tobi started walking, Asamiya followed. He looked skeptical, but he didn’t ask him anything. Tobi was grateful. He couldn’t answer well if asked.

Who was that man? He was not a child. He was an adult. Was he affiliated with the school? That would be strange. If such a giant were to wander around the school, normally people would definitely notice him. Why wasn’t anyone making a fuss? It was as if no one had noticed the man. Was Tobi the only one who saw the man? Was that possible?

It was not an optical illusion. Tobi definitely saw that man. He remembers vividly. Even though he only saw him once, he remembered every detail.

That man was wearing a black blouson that looked like a dark flight jacket. He had big hands. He wore boots.

Actually, did Tobi see that man’s big hands? Was he really wearing boots even though he was inside the school building?

Yes, I remember.

Maybe it’s not the first time.

I might have seen him somewhere before.

Tobi might know that man.