Book Girl and the Corrupted Angel

  I’ve built many doorways and set out traps so that no one will be able to reach this place. That’s what the angel said.

  This is a castle of darkness for the angel and I alone.

  Only within this yielding gloom can I lament the misfortune that has rained down all around me, only here am I permitted to scorn and pity the ugliness, the filthiness of how I smile and pretend at being pure in the light of day.

  And only here can I continue to be Nanase’s best friend.

  Prologue—Memories for an Introduction—I Used to Be with an Angel

  He was a man who straddled heaven and earth; that’s how the diva described him.

  For me, Miu had that role.

  Out of all my classmates, Miu was the only one who seemed to be surrounded in pure white light. Her voice was the only one that caressed my ears like refreshing music flowing down from heaven. Each time my heart squeezed tight at the words she spoke, I thought how special Miu was, how different from anyone else.

  I knew she was an angel and that she was hiding invisible wings against her back.

  How else could a girl my age create such beautiful stories so lightheartedly, so freely?

  Having Miu beside me, having her look at me with her teasing, kittenish eyes; say my name in her sweet, clear voice; and twine her arm through mine like it was the most natural thing in the world—for me, it was a state of grace, a miracle granted by God, and I thought life would go on like that forever.

  But how much did I know of the truth about Miu?

  What kind of girl was the real Miu?

  That serene summer afternoon in my third year of middle school, the peaceful routine Miu and I shared shattered in the worst possible way.

  Miu jumped off the roof of our school, and I watched her go, helpless to act.

  I retreated into my room after that, until at the end of winter, I somehow managed to drag myself from the pit my room had become with its curtains forever shut. I took my exams, I advanced to high school, and in so doing, I met Tohko Amano.

  Called a book girl, loving every book in the world without exception, she was another girl who traveled freely between heaven and earth on the shining wings of imagination.

  Chapter 1–Don’t Ever Forget the Snack

  Tohko beamed happily after tearing off a corner of the lined paper.

  “There’s a rhythmical texture of rich red and black sugar and crushed walnuts inside a crumbly tart shell,” she murmured with a sigh, tearing the paper up into precious strips and bringing them to her lips. “Each time I bite into it, there’s a rustic sweetness that spreads over my tongue… Even though it’s pretty sweet, there’s a superb balance that keeps it from being overwhelming.”

  Rrrip. Flp-flp-flp. Gulp.

  The otherworldly sounds resonated softly in the cramped room, which was practically buried under mounds of books.

  Tohko is a goblin who eats stories.

  She would argue, “I am not a goblin—I’m just an ordinary book girl!” but the way she munched ravenously on paper with writing on it looked nothing like a legitimate high school girl.

  “Did you know that a sugar tart is called a tarte sucrée? Sucre means sugar in French. The surface is lightly burned to make it crisp, but that accent is amazing, too. Today is a success! Well done, Konoha!”

  Apparently the “snack” I’d written on the three prompts “a campfire,” “a reindeer,” and “a speed-eating contest” had met with Tohko’s approval.

  After losing a speed-eating contest, a reindeer roams in solitude through a forest at night until he encounters his girlfriend who’s been steadfastly waiting for him at a campfire.

  After writing such a treacly story, I couldn’t be happy with her praise.

  Maybe it should have been more twisted…

  Since I always made her whine, “Yuuuuck!” by adding in a weird ending, I did want to write the kind of sweet story Tohko liked occasionally, but…

  “I’ve never heard of a tarte sucrée. It’s just a coincidence that it tastes like that. I actually meant for the girl to hit him with a flaming piece of firewood and make him into reindeer soup. My time ran out right when I got to them meeting,” I said brusquely, picking up my paper and putting my pencil away in its case.

  Tohko was sitting on a fold-up chair at the window with her knees drawn up to her chest, eating her snack. But when I said that, she paled, a scrap of paper still in her mouth.

  “But why would you want to pour wasabi-flavored ketchup all over this perfect sugar tart?”

  Hunching her thin shoulders and shaking her long braids that hung past her hips, she acted petulant and terrified, but then her eyes suddenly crinkled like a cat basking in a sunbeam again.

  “I’m glad it ended when the reindeer was happy. It was really, totally sweet and delicious.”

  When she looked at me like that, something tickled deep in my heart and I felt more uncomfortable than I could say.

  Okay, next time I’m definitely gonna do a messy horror story.

  “Yummm! That was sooo good!”

  Unaware of my plans, Tohko gulped down the very last bite, her face a picture of joy.

  “I’m glad.” But next time’s gonna be a gory horror story, so…, I murmured in my heart, putting on a bright smile. But just then—

  “Now I can put the club on hiatus with a clear conscience,” Tohko said offhandedly.

  “What?”

  “Well, I’m a third-year, right? I’ve got to focus on my exams soon.”

  “You haven’t started focusing yet?!”

  I gaped at her. It was December! There were only two months or so left before exams! But she’d been in the clubroom ripping up and munching on books as she expounded on them till all hours, so I’d thought she had gotten in on a recommendation somewhere. But no…

  “You mean you’re actually taking exams?!”

  “Of course. I’m a dedicated student,” she declared majestically, her face unflappable. Man, I’d had no idea she was this cavalier…

  When she saw my shoulders slump, Tohko started talking like she was a mature young woman.

  “Don’t lose heart, Konoha. I completely understand how sad you must feel that you won’t be able to see your beloved president. And I won’t be able to eat your snacks—I mean, being away from this dear, familiar clubroom pains me deeply.

  “But you know, a person can’t just skip around through sweet books. Sometimes they have to read every word of Takuboku Ishikawa’s Sad Toys or A Handful of Sand.

  “Yes—it’s like eating an endless salad of pickled radish and carrot slivers piled up on rice. As you taste the hardships of life in the ephemerality of the vinegar-soaked radish and the crispness of the carrots, the sweetness of the little pinch of sugar mixed in gives you courage, and you eat it taking one bite, and then another. Salad is really good for you. You should try some, Konoha.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

  “I’m talking about doing our best to eat a salad in the winter so we’ll have a happy spring.”

  “Me eating salad isn’t going to improve your test performance. Besides, didn’t Takuboku Ishikawa die in poverty? You’re not getting rewarded. You’re gonna fail.”

  “Waaah! Don’t say such awful things to a delicate student studying for exams!”

  Tohko curled up into a ball, covering her ears with both hands.

  “Oh, whatever…Just go home already and start studying,” I said apathetically.

  Suddenly her face became more grown-up and she chortled. “Yes, thank you. I will.”

  She slipped her small feet, shod only in school socks, into the slippers she had kicked off and then stood up.
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br />   Then she held three pages of essay paper out to me.

  “Huh? What’s that?”

  “It’s a list of provisions. You want to do something to help your beloved president, don’t you, Konoha?”

  Crayon, fire station, limbo dance—essence of a piping hot fondant au chocolat.

  Butterfly, Mount Fear, a surfer—essence of a fluffy, therapeutic vanilla soufflé.

  Flashlight, rafflesia, English test—essence of a luxury fruit parfait.

  The page was packed with words like that!

  I thought she was going to advance spiritually by eating salad!

  “Write one each day, okay? Gimme suuupersweet snacks. I’m really looking forward to it! Oh, and don’t worry. I’m not retiring from the club until graduation.”

  She beamed and waved vigorously at me, then left the room; blankly, I watched the braided goblin go.

  “What a selfish person!” I ranted at Akutagawa the next morning.

  “Who?”

  “Tohko! I never wanted to join any club at all. But then she dragged me into a creepy club like the book club and makes me write stories every day, and she expounds on books while she reads them, and now she’s talking about putting the club on hiatus out of nowhere, and while it’s out, I have to write stories ’cos she wants to read them or whatever.”

  “You upset?”

  “You bet I am.”

  “But you’re writing them?”

  Akutagawa’s eyes dropped to the notebook sitting open on my desk.

  I subtly moved my hands to cover the improv story I’d started writing.

  “Wh-what choice do I have? If I don’t, she’ll just throw a tantrum and say I lack respect for my president or that it was my fault she couldn’t focus on her exams. She would.”

  Akutagawa’s handsome face broke into a grin.

  “You’re usually so stoic, Inoue. But as soon as Tohko comes up, you start acting like a little kid.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Tohko’s the one who acts like a child. I’m babysitting her.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Well, let’s just say that’s true. Anyway, did you get my text?”

  “What?”

  I quickly pulled my cell phone out of my uniform pocket.

  It was a brand-new midnight-blue phone I’d just purchased a few days earlier. Until now I’d always said there was no reason for me to have one, but I had become friends with Akutagawa and started to realize it might be more convenient to have one, so my parents had gotten a family plan for me.

  “Sorry, I’m not used to checking for messages. Yesterday I sent you that I picked an e-mail, right?”

  When I checked my new messages, I saw there was a text from Akutagawa and also one from Maika, my little sister, for some reason. She was in elementary school, but in order to coordinate taking her to her swim classes and picking her up afterward, our parents had bought her a cell phone, too. She’d probably sent me a message because she was so happy to have it. So that was why she had scowled at me this morning over her toast slathered with tangerine jelly. Ack—I’d have to answer her later. If she started sulking over that, it would be a huge pain.

  “Here’s your message. Hey, you use smilies? I never would have thought that.”

  Akutagawa looked embarrassed.

  “My sisters told me my messages were too formal, so I tried to do better. They’re pretty useful.”

  “Oh yeah? Then I’ll get my little sister to teach me some and find some crazy ones to send you.”

  “Looking forward to it.”

  Just then a clump of girls from our class came over.

  “Hey, Inoue! You bought a cell phone! Oh wow, it’s the latest model! Nice!”

  “Will you give me your e-mail, Inoue?”

  “Me, too! Please, Inoue?”

  They surrounded me so suddenly that it baffled me.

  Akutagawa was one thing, but why me? Girls had never been interested in me before.

  “Give it to Nanase, too!”

  Kotobuki was at the back of the group, but Mori dragged her forward. Kotobuki freaked out.

  “Th-that’s okay! Even if he tells me his e-mail, I’d never use it.”

  “Come on! Everyone’s sharing e-mails, so you have to, too!”

  “Yeah. You don’t wanna get left out of the loop. Let me see your phone.”

  “I…I said no.”

  “Geez, you’re so obnoxious. Aaand, found it!”

  Mori had shoved her hand into Kotobuki’s pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

  “Hey, quit it! Give that back, Mori!”

  Um…she didn’t have to go that far. Kotobuki really seemed upset.

  Just then…

  “Nanaseee! Someone to see youuu!”

  When she saw the kind-looking man standing in the hall dressed in a casual suit, Kotobuki made a disgusted face. Then she glared at me hurriedly, looked over at him and then back at me; then she turned back to him and then to me.

  “They’re calling you, Kotobuki.”

  “I…I don’t need you to tell me that!” she snapped, then pressed her lips together and made a dash to the hallway.

  “Oh! It’s Marmar!”

  “Whoa! What does he want with Nanase, I wonder?”

  Mr. Keiichi Mariya had been teaching music since last spring. He had refined features and was popular with the girls. There were also rumors that he was a little eccentric, but…

  “Marmar is definitely interested in Nanase!”

  “Totally. He called her ‘Nanase’ once by accident, and he’s always looking at her during class. He’s after her constantly, too. What are you gonna do about it, Inoue?”

  “Huh? Wh…what am I—?”

  “Nanase is suuuperpopular with boys. I mean, she’s gorgeous, and the fact that she’s always got her guard up just makes them want more. If you’re not careful, things could get bad.”

  “Get bad how?”

  “Argh, what are those two talking about? This is killing me.”

  Mori and the others were unusually worked up. It was all gibberish to me. Beside me, Akutagawa shrugged.

  Mr. Mariya had his hands pressed together in front of him—he looked like he was asking Kotobuki for a favor. But Kotobuki barely seemed to be listening and was stealing glances in my direction. She was frowning, her lips pursed. I was just thinking how much she looked like my little sister, who had glanced up at me and sulked in disappointment that morning, when Mr. Mariya suddenly looked over at me.

  A perplexed look came over his face, and then he waved me over with a hand, the wrist of which was encircled by an expensive-looking watch.

  Me? I asked with a glance, and he nodded with a gentle, congenial smile.

  Still confused, I went out to the hall and asked, “Do you need me?”

  He answered in a sweet, lighthearted voice that tickled at my ears. “Would you be willing to give me a hand with something after school, Inoue? I’d like you to organize the papers in the music room.”

  “Hold on—why’re you asking Inoue?” Kotobuki wailed, aghast.

  “You’ve been making eye contact with Inoue for a while now, Nanase. And you said it was too much for one person to do alone and that you wanted help.”

  “I did not! And anyway, I never said I would do it.”

  “Oh? Then why do your eyes keep going back to Inoue?”

  “I…I…”

  “You don’t mind helping, do you, Inoue?”

  Drawn in by his cheerful voice and friendly smile, I surprised myself when I reflexively answered, “Uh, what? No.”

  Wait—did I just agree? Oh god! Kotobuki pursed her lips and glared at me.

  “Great, thanks. It would be marvelous if you could start right away after school today. There’s quite a bit to do, so I need you two to do your best.”

  Mr. Mariya clapped me on the back, looking pleased with himself.

  “This is your fault, Inoue.”

  It
was after school, and Kotobuki was extremely angry.

  The music room in the southeast corner of the second floor was packed with tons of cardboard boxes. Our job was to sort the papers crammed in each box and put them into files.

  “S-sorry…but he asked you to do it first…”

  “If you hadn’t agreed, I would have said no. Geez, as if I wanted to work with you!”

  Prickling with rage, she opened a box and started piling the papers in it on the floor. Mr. Mariya talked in a vibrantly cheerful voice.

  “This is great. I’m so glad you could help, Nanase. You do enjoy bluntness, don’t you? It’s so charming the way that you sulk.”

  “I’ve got no interest in old men! And stop calling me Nanase!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought Nanase was your last name and somehow just remembered you that way.”

  “My full name was written on the class roll, though!”

  “Hmm, was it?”

  “Grrrr!”

  Kotobuki growled in irritation, whirling to turn her back on him. He drew nearer to me and whispered in amusement, “She’s adorable when she loses her temper, don’t you think? It thrills me being rejected by a girl like that; it makes me want to squeeze her tight.”

  “Mr. Mariya…I’m not sure a teacher should be saying things like that.”

  “A teacher is nothing but an adult man once he leaves the classroom, Inoue.”

  “Then please don’t say that until after you leave the building.”

  As we whispered to each other, our faces pressed close together, Kotobuki turned slooowly back around.

  The very same instant, Mr. Mariya shouted gleefully, “Oh, what’s this, Nanase? Are you curious what Inoue and I are talking about? We were just observing how cute you are. Isn’t that right, Inoue?”

  “Er, uh—that is—” I was trapped.

  “N-no! I don’t care.”

  Kotobuki quickly turned her back on us.

  “Oh! Nanase, there’s a worm on your thigh.”

  “Eek!”

  Kotobuki jumped and shook out her skirt. Her eyes were positively brimming with tears.