Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro:Volume1 Chapter1

Chapter 1 – Aren't you already dead?

(Uwaa…why are they all girls?)

Koremitsu looked around the funeral and felt shocked.

The high-class blazer and black shirt combination was the uniform of Koremitsu’s school, Heian Academy. There were also other uniforms like one-piece and sailor uniforms, vests, bolero jackets with ribbons, and so many variations it was shocking as there were girls wearing all kinds of school uniforms standing there.

That was not all,

There was a female university student in stylish looking black clothing,

“Hikaru, Hikaru.”

An intellectual-looking office lady-like woman beside her was covering her face with a handkerchief as her shoulders continued to shudder. A rich-looking lady was in tears behind this woman as her eyes looked down. There was also a young girl who looked like a primary school student, and she was no exception as her eyes were swollen red, filled with tears.

Koremitsu, who checked on the funeral date and time on the school bulletin board, came along, and soon regretted.

Amongst the crying girls, there was a high school boy who bent his back, had messy red hair, sharp eyes and a frowning mouth standing there, and he looked really outstanding there.

Those attending the funeral would occasionally give suspicious stares to Koremitsu.

Even the girls wearing the Heian Academy were shocked, wondering why the extremely infamous freshman was present.

However, none of them dared to ask why he came by. They bit their lips while pretending to look at something, look away uncomfortably and walk away.

Even if anyone were to ask Koremitsu, he himself could not explain.

(Really, why must I come to the funeral of this bastard that has such an abundant lie when I never actually talked to him much?)

Mikado Hikaru’s funerary was placed above the white sandalwood incense at the front of the hall that was filled with people.

The pretty angelic-like boy smiled as he lay there, surrounded by white tulips, lilies and carnations.

He had a transparent-like white skin, clear eyes, neat nose, nicely-shaped lips, slender head, and a certain girl-like purity and sweetness.

Right, when they met in school for the first time, he was wondering why there was a girl wearing a boy’s uniform.

And that—afterwards, he learnt that this very approachable boy with a unique voice was the one called the imperial prince of the school.

He was not the ‘prince’, but an ‘imperial prince’, a title that indicated the elegance of ‘Your Hikaru’ much better. The girls who graduated from middle school and the newly joined high-school girls were chatting about him in a dreamy manner, and that was how he got to hear about this.

Anyway, he was extremely popular, and many girls started to like him when he was in the affiliated kindergarten.

In this school full of rich people, his family background and finances were outstanding, but he showed the same amount of wonderful affection and gentleness to every single girl.

As expected, that guy’s some handsome dude who I have no affinity with. That was what he thought at that point.

But for some reason, Mikado Hikaru called out to Koremitsu with a smiling face when they met for the first time, saying,

“I have something I have to ask of you.”

After hearing that, he thought that there was something wrong in that statement.

Thus, he wondered whether he heard things wrongly when he learnt of Hikaru’s death before he could understand anything.

It was said that he drowned in a flood caused by heavy rain when he was staying at a resort in Shinshu during Golden Week.

Even though they merely exchanged a few words, the fact that he died at a young 15 years of age was a huge shock to Koremitsu, and he against recognized how life was not permanent, and how fleeting it was. He recalled his father’s death, and felt bitter in his heart.

He harbored such incomprehensible and complex feelings as we went to the funeral amidst the drizzle.

Koremitsu sat on the pipe chairs at the place with a depressed look, and looked at the funerary as he was surrounded by the feeble voices of the women.

Hikaru is really a beautiful child.

He is such a kind child.

He’s really a child with a refreshing smile.

He has such a nice voice.

Such delicate fingers like those of an artist.

He’s a little stubborn, but I can’t bring myself to hate him for this.

He’s scared of loneliness, but that made him adorable.

He’s a child who looked like he could have all the happiness in the way.

He’s a child who seemed to be surrounded by light.

Everyone present were mourning and weeping for this young man who died at such an early age.

The melodies of the funeral and remembrance could be heard.

Koremitsu really understood too little about this deceased person, and it was difficult of him to understand their feelings.

The sadness splashed upon his skin like waves, and he felt a little annoyed, guilty and uneasy.

At this moment, he noticed a woman sitting on the relatives’ seat.

She looked young,

In her early 20s or so.

Her body was so frail looking that she looked like a flower that would snap anytime, and she was neither wearing a one piece nor a black kimono. Her hair was tied backwards.

The moment she entered Koremitsu’s eyes, he held his breath.

Mikado…?

At that moment, he had the wrong impression thinking that Mikado Hikaru himself was sitting there.

She looked so similar to Hikaru.

Her smooth silky hair looked golden under the light, and she had snowy white skin, an elegant and refined nose, petal-like lips and a slender neck.

(Is that Hikaru’s older sister…?)

That woman slowly gave a smile.

Her tears continued to flow, but the ends of her lips were curling up slightly.

It was a peaceful and beautiful smile.

It was a smile that did not fit a funeral scene, and Koremitsu stood in front of the sandalwood incense, seemingly suffocated by the smell, half mesmerized as he stared at her.

Why…is she smiling?

She’s smiling so beautifully, so—happily.

Why at a funeral…

That woman who looked like Hikaru’s older woman showed a smile that lasted for such a short moment, and it looked like an illusion there.

As he was spacing out, a sharp voice from the place interrupted his thoughts.

“HE’S LIKE AN IDIOT!”

Shocked, he looked over at where the voice came from.

A girl wearing a Heian Academy uniform was standing in front of Hikaru’s funerary.

The long black hair was left behind the head, tied with a black ribbon. This girl had a childish vibe, and she looked like a very refined princess. The girl clenched her fists as she could not help but shudder, and her large eyes looked like they were giving off emotions of fury and contempt as she angrily stared at Hikaru’s smiling funerary.

She let out scathing words from her trembling lips.

“YOU’RE REALLY AN IDIOT FOR DROWNING IN A RIVER LIKE THAT! THAT’S SO EMBARRASSING! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE STABBED TO DEATH BY A WOMAN! IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE TOO MUCH OF A PLAYBOY THAT KARMA STRUCK BACK!”

“Don’t do this, Aoi.”

Immediately afterwards, a taller girl wearing the same uniform walked over. She grabbed her by the shoulder, wanting to take her outside.

The girl with the black ribbon was prompted by her, and lifted her head to stare at Hikaru’s funerary.

The side of her pale and stiff face caused Koremitsu’s heart to jump.

It was a face mixed with anger, anguish and bitterness, a dangerous expression—

The young girl moved her slender lips and gave a sharp voice of disdain.

“YOU LIAR!”

He felt like his heart was stabbed with a sharp spear.

In fact, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

(Oi oi…what kind of carnage scene is this?)

The place immediately went silent, but after a while, it regained its usual liveliness.

Everyone started to discuss about what happened discreetly.

Liar—

Koremitsu’s mind was still thinking about the begrudging tone and her angry yet pained expression.

Liar.

Liar.

(That Mikado has an angelic like face, but what caused him to be told off by that girl like that?)

Liar. The obvious pained lashing continued to echo in Koremitsu’s ears.

Even though Hikaru was dead, she continued to vent her frustrations on him. What kind of relation did she have with him?

What kind of lie did Hikaru say exactly?

(Well…it has nothing to do with me anyway…)

The prayer chanting soon started, and the place was surrounded by a serious atmosphere.

That woman who looked very similar to Hikaru, sitting on the relatives seat kept her head lowered.

The girl with the black ribbon who had been lambasting Hikaru started to fade away from Koremitsu’s mind.

When it was his turn to offer incense, he held onto the sandalwood, closed his eyes and lowered his head.

(What exactly does he mean when he said ‘there’s something I want to ask of you’?)

However, there was a question in him that he just couldn’t get his mind out of.

Of course, it was impossible for Hikaru’s corpse in the coffin to give the answer.

Once the funeral ended, he left the place, but it was still raining outside, and the weather was dark and humid.

(It’s so troublesome to carry an umbrella around…)

He stepped on the wet ground as he walked out.

—Mr Akagi

It seemed that someone called his name.

He stopped in his tracks, and looked back.

(…Maybe I’m just hearing things.)

There were two girls in uniforms behind him, their shoulders cringing, their bodies shivering as they were rooted to the ground.

Koremitsu felt very bitter in his heart as he saw this, and he arched his back as he stepped forward.

Why is it that such an uncouth person came along to visit Mr Hikaru’s funeral?

He could not help but click his tongue the moment he heard the whispers behind him.

♢ ♢ ♢

There were people on this world who were easily misunderstood.

The 15 years of misfortune Akagi Koremitsu suffered was primarily due to his appearance.

He looked like he was brooding all the time, he would often lower his eyes, giving an arrogant and taunting vibe, and his mouth would curl down with unhappiness.

He had a stiff face that had no amicable feeling, he looked like an ominous person, and his sharp expression, arched back, overly thin body with an arched back, and messy reddish-brown hair made him look like a complete delinquent.

He recalled the full course of misunderstandings with regards to himself when he was young.

When he was in kindergarten, people were scared of Koremitsu’s savage expression and would back away from him; during his entrance ceremony in primary school, the girl sitting beside him suddenly started to cry, and the other children started to cry after seeing that as well, causing quite a ruckus.

For some reason, it ended up with Koremitsu being accused of bullying the girl, and the mothers would teach their children not to play with him. With that, Koremitsu lived a lonely life.

During middle school, he got tangled with the upperclassmen hanging around on the empty space in the school compound, and in the process of getting away from them, he inadvertently got called the king of fighting, the king of delinquents and other names, and was viewed as a dangerous person. Because of this, he could not make a single friend in middle school.

And there was that unforgettable graduation ceremony.

While his classmates who were crying as they parted ways, Koremitsu was isolated by them, left along at the wilting sakura trees as he thought,

(I can’t let this continue.)

Once he entered high school, he had to make friends so that he would not let himself be called the Red Devil, the man of disaster, the savage-looking wild dog and such.

That was what he decided.

However, on the day before the entrance ceremony, he got hit by a truck at a cross junction with lots of traffic, and unexpectedly, had to spend a month in the hospital to recuperate.

After the accident, Koremitsu’s aunt, who was also his guardian, went into an uproar,

“Why do you get involved in one trouble after another! It’s miraculous that you managed to pass the examinations of an outstanding famed private school here, and you decide to absent yourself from the ceremony by being in hospital? Even primary school kids don’t get knocked down at a traffic light of a cross junction!”

And went on a frenzy.

Afterwards, Koremitsu was finally released from the grim life of hospitalization, and it was time for a memorable moment where he could enter school for the first time.

He had a crutch tucked under his right armpit, his left hand in a cast, and his head with a bandaged around as he walked down the long courtyard corridor.

“Damn it…where the heck is the staff room?”

He wanted to ask for directions, but everyone frantically parted aside, and unknowingly, he entered a place where no one was around.

In this large courtyard, there were beautiful trees that were neatly arranged, stones of all shapes and sizes, and even lakes and ponds.

Heian Academy was a famous school that had an integrated program from its affiliated kindergarten to its university, and they spent a lot of fortune building the courtyard.

During the previous winter, he came to this school for an entrance exam, and was sincerely amazed by how well maintained the toilets and the courtyard were. He thought that since he could enter such a prestigious school, he would not have to face those upperclassmen who would go crazy without warning and pull out the knives from their modified uniforms, and that he could look forward to getting along with his classmates.

However, people backed off from him when he entered this school for the first time, and even got lost—

(Damn it…everyone’s judging each other based on appearances. They saying that my parents got me into this school through some mafia means, that I fought some yankee army from another school and nearly killed them, and that I got into hospital as a result. Hey, I can hear them all, you know! If you want to badmouth me like that, do it somewhere where I can’t hear it, okay! That’s manners of the bare minimum standard, you know!)

Sulking, he proceeded down the corridor as his crutch let out a tapping sound.

There seemed to be someone standing in the shadow of a pillar in front of him.

The person was simply standing there, and looked like he was simply leaning on the pillar. He was wearing a blazer and slacks—is he a guy?

The morning sunlight that shone into the atrium lit this soft hair, seemingly radiating off a golden glow.

Why was such a person standing at this place so early in the morning?

Anyway, he got saved.

He wanted to approach the other person to ask where the office was, but the person turned his face over here.

(Huh…a girl?)

The boy had an overly delicate looking face, and Koremitsu immediately felt confused, wondering why a girl would be wearing a boy’s uniform

(No, that’s a guy…right?)

The person narrowed his clear eyes, and gave a smile on his very earnest looking face. His nice looking lips then started to move.

“Mr Akagi.”

He let out a sweet voice.

It felt like this voice itself had a fragrance to it, and it reached the ears softly and gently, spreading deep inside the ears. At this moment, Koremitsu stopped in his tracks.

“You’re the first year Mr Akagi Koremitsu. This is the first time you’re stepping into the school, right?”

“…How do you know my name?”

As Koremitsu remained wary, Hikaru spoke with a clear tone,

“Any unbelievable freshmen would become the talk around here. It’s said that you fought against a yankee army, beat 10 opponents to near death, became the 27th gang leader and the legendary king of the yankees. It’s also said that the injuries on you were marks of honor from battle, right?”

There was no one who dared to approach Koremitsu and talk, let alone someone who did not fear him, facing him head on and showing a refreshing smile.

That was why Koremitsu felt somewhat puzzled instead of being outraged over being called a gang leader.

For some reason, he could really talk with someone who was called a gang leader so nonchalantly…

For someone who looked like a girl, he sure has guts, huh? Or is he just slow? Or is he planning something?

He told Hikaru the truth, that his delinquent-like face was something he was born with, that the injuries were a result of him being knocked down by a truck, that there were really no gang leaders around, and that he was not a delinquent.

“Then, why did you block the truck with your body?”

But the boy suddenly raised this remark.

“…A coincidence.”

“That’s some amazing coincidence.”

“It can’t be helped. It was just that coincidental.”

“Hmm, but I don’t think a truck is something you can knock into coincidentally.”

“…”

He really did not want to mention this incident.

To Koremitsu, who was not used to having others talk to him, the way this boy spoke to him so naturally caused him to feel butterflies in his stomach.

The manner in which the boy looked back at him was like he was staring at such rare animal, and it felt repulsive.

“…Where’s the staff room.”

Koremitsu suddenly spoke up to interrupt this topic, but the other person did not seem to mind,

“Head straight down, and at the end, turn left, go up the stairs, and onto the second level.”

And he even guided Koremitsu.

“Oh, I see.”

The sound of the pine crutch rang again, and as they were to pass by each other, Koremitsu got called up again.

“Mr Akagi, I forgot my Classics textbook today. Can you please lend me yours?”

Huh?

Koremitsu stopped thinking for a moment.

Why ask me to lend a textbook out of a sudden?

Koremitsu turned around, and saw the other person staring right at him with his clear eyes.

“…Our class doesn’t have Classics today.”

He answered as he tried to guess the other person’s intention.

“Eh, that’s too bad.”

He mused as he gave a meaningful smile,

“Then, I’ll come over to your class to borrow your textbook then, Mr Akagi. There’s something I want to ask of you then.”

Something you want to ask of me? What is it?

It escalated from a simple textbook borrowing request to a personal favor request, and this suspicious change caused him to frown.

“I’m Mikado Hikaru of Class 1. See you next time.”

He waved his arm greatly and walked off to the courtyard.

The dazzling smiling face that looked like it was dazzling with sunlight as it was etched deeply into Koremitsu’s mind.

“Kyah! Your Hikaru!” “Good morning, Master Hikaru!” the girls screams could be heard from the other side of the forest.

Koremitsu could only look stunned as he listened to the screams that were fading away.

That was one week ago.

A week later.

Koremitsu, who had his cast and crutch removed, saw the girls crying and wailing as he entered school, and heard the news that “Your Hikaru had died.”

♢ ♢ ♢

(In the end, Mikado never borrowed the textbook from me, and we only managed to talk once.)

The road was dark, and the rain caused Koremitsu’s vision to be blurry as he walked home.

He had been thinking about Hikaru’s situation ever since the moment he left the funeral parlor.

(It can’t be helped…)

That one meeting did leave a huge impact on him, and all sorts of various things happened at the funeral.

However, Koremitsu understood practically nothing about this person called Mikado Hikaru. Thus, Koremitsu was thoroughly captivated by his casual attitude, his meaningful attitude and smile which felt like a mystery.

What kind of person was Hikaru like in reality?

(If that guy didn’t die, if he’s still alive…will he really come over to borrow my textbook?)

He will open the classroom door forcefully, give a radiant smile,

“Koremitsu-kun! I forgot my textbook!”

And call out to me with such a cheery tone, I guess?

This scene flashed through his mind for an instant, and his inner heart felt like it was being burned by friction. Perhaps this was the little sadness he had for the life of a 15 year old who had his life ended.

The rain gradually got bigger.

The wooden home his grandfather built was located away from city center, a place functioning as a calligraphy house. By the time he got back, his messy red hair was sticking on his eyelids and ears.

He opened the entrance door, and his aunt Koharu stood at the door, holding some coarse salt.

“Koremitsu, turn your back around!”

She ordered him sternly.

Koharu would normally dress herself up in a jersey with rolled up sleeves and hem, and keep her hair tied up nicely behind her head naturally. A divorcee, she returned back to her old home and worked on a little trading business on the computer at home. At this point, she, Koremitsu and his grandfather were the only people living together.

He followed what she said and turned around, and soon after, the sound of salt being sprinkled on him rang.

(Isn’t this too much salt for purification? Are you trying to marinate me with salt?)

But even though he thought so, he chose to remain silent considering the fact that the highest authority in the household was gradually transferring over from his grandfather to his uncle, he chose to remain silent.

“Alright, turn around again.”

He turned around, and a large helping of salt was sprinkled on his legs. His thoroughly wet clothes were littered with salt grains.

“The water in the bath is boiled. Go in a wash. Once you’re done, have dinner, and don’t dily-daly around.”

She spoke with a manly tone.

Suddenly, there was a short chuckle from behind.

“Mr Akagi ‘s sister really seems to be a violent and interesting. And she looks just like you.”

(Un?)