Prologue - The Forest of Night
The wind wound its way through the trees, cutting through the air like a scythe, making Mimizuku's heart seem cold with fear. The heaviness that could be felt in the surrounding could be described in one word: darkness. However, it was not complete darkness. The gaping wide moons hovering in the night sky above seemed almost too bright, as if it were a lie. But their moonlight made the colors in the darkness glow more richly. In the day, the forest was a luxuriant green, but in the darkness it seemed as though it were squirming about, like wriggling tentacles tangled amongst each other.
"—Ugh!"
Mimizuku let out a yelp as she felt a sharp pain. Looking at the back of her hand, she saw a red horizontal line running through it. She had been cut. Her bare feet and shoulders also had numerous wounds crisscrossing through them.
"Ehehe..."
Mimizuku laughed faintly and licked the back of her hand. She tasted blood. It had a salty tinge to it when it touched her tongue, but then turned dimly sweet. Human skin is kind of yummy, Mimizuku thought. I wonder if it would be nice to eat. As she thought to herself, the trees and leaves of the forest swept across her skin and opened up new wounds.
Having all these cuts makes me feel so warm.
She was happy. After all, it was better to be warm than cold. It's okay. It's okay.
At that moment, a quick gust blew, and Mimizuku's brittle hair rustled like withered grass. It was a strange wind. Though it caused her short hair to dance about, the leaves of the trees did not make any sound at all. With sanpaku[1] eyes and pupils like pebbles of coal, she looked upwards toward the direction of the wind.
Those moons...
There they both were, a perfect pair.
Ripping massive holes through the heavens, they seemed like a pair of eyes themselves.
They stared at Mimizuku.
Looking up through the forest, Mimizuku wondered what they would look like from the top of a tree.
They're so pretty.
She felt a shiver down her spine. Magnificent. If she were any shorter, she wouldn't have been able to see them at all. Despite this, the poor view she had of them now was enough to paralyze her. Mimizuku lifted her cheeks with her hands and gave a little chuckle. It was almost like a handsome guy was gazing upon her. But it wasn't a man.
Not a human, it's different. Different from a human... Well, whatever it is, I hope it's something that would eat me.
She lifted her hand and tried to touch the moons, but there was no way she could reach. It was okay though, because the moons were places no human could reach.
"Hey, up there, you pretty moons!" Mimizuku screamed as loud as her tiny lungs could muster.
"Can you... won't you eat me...?!"
The two moons began to sway back and forth. Mimizuku's heart began to beat faster.
"Leave, human."
A resonant, thunderous voice shook the darkness to its roots.
Hearing the voice made Mimizuku happy, and she made a large, cheeky grin.
I'm so happy, she thought.
"Leave. I dislike humans."
Dislike. Hate. It hates humans. We'll get along.
Even though she had the body of a human, Mimizuku hated humans as well. The moons, the lake, the acorns among other things, she hated them too, but not nearly as much as the humans.
"It's alright! I'm different from a human."
She opened her arms out as wide as she could. The shackles chained to her wrists jangled as she did.
"I'm livestock! So eat me!" Mimizuku said, making another wide, cheeky grin. The darkness whispered, and the moons twinkled.
Translator's Notes and References
1. ↑ Sanpaku: Literally "three whites." Check here for more information.
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