“Look at the sky, and the sky will look upon you. That is the way of godhood.”
“Our faces are reflected in the sky. Then let us offer our smiles to the sky.”
“Those who cry fall into the dregs. Those who smile are drawn into the sky.”
—— Sumime Village Stone Monument, “Words of the Clear Mirror”
■
It was a life where I wanted to be the protagonist.
I wanted to be the kind of protagonist you hear about in fiction, invincible, cool, and popular with beautiful girls.
But there was no way something like that could ever come true.
When I was a kid, I admired heroes and all that, but in the end I just became an ordinary working adult.
Still, I couldn’t let myself rot over that.
So this time, I tried aiming for a decent kind of happiness as a grown man.
If anything, in recent fiction, it feels like things get hotter once the guy turns into an old man.
A comeback story starting from here? That sounds promising.
And right when I was thinking that, I got run over by a truck and died.
What an utterly pathetic way to wrap up a life.
And before I could even hold a reflection meeting on my life, I was granted a new one.
“…A boy.”
“This is bad… At this rate, Osora-sama will…”
Those were the first words I heard after being born.
Under the light of an incandescent bulb, surrounded by an old ceiling and a whole crowd of old men and women, I was born.
Being born with knowledge from your previous life.
I knew about this.
Reincarnation. The privilege granted only to protagonists.
At that moment, a completely inappropriate amount of adrenaline flooded through an infant’s brain and surged all through me.
Ahh~ ^^ Mom, I’m gonna be the protagonist in this world.
“What do we do? The next Sorautsushi-sama is supposed to come from the Oretsu family.”
“You can say that, but…”
“Should we consult the village chief first? Still, a boy…”
And yet, for some reason, I wasn’t being welcomed.
I can do my best as a baby! My motto is ‘adaptability’!
Pleased to meet you all!
I’ve got the knowledge and understanding of an adult since childhood!
I probably have top-tier talent too!
Is there magic here!? Swordsmanship is fine too!
If possible, please make my mentor a girl!
“Hrm.”
While looking at me crying my lungs out, one of the adults muttered quietly.
“Then what should we do about the next sacrifice…?”
Sacrifice…?
Huh, me? I’m the sacrifice?
“Should we just kidnap someone from town at random?”
“Stop it. What if the Enri Agency sets its sights on us?”
“Then what, we all just drop dead together!?”
“And you think Osora-sama will accept blood from outsiders!?”
Before long, the discussion heated up into a shouting match.
No matter how you looked at it, this was not a good situation.
Well, it couldn’t be helped. I guess I’d have to stop them myself.
So I cried with all my might.
The one and only strongest command available to a baby: full-blown wailing.
“…Let’s stop. Not in front of the child.”
“Yeah, sorry. I got a little worked up. …Oretsu-san is the one who must be the most anxious.”
The person who seemed to be my mother hugged me tighter as I cried.
“I’m sorry, Ei… I’m sorry…!”
If things get this ugly just because I was born, then I’m basically a cursed child.
“Anyway, we’ll consult the village chief. No matter what, we have to do something about the sacrifice.”
The adults all said as much to one another, and one by one they left the room.
The only ones left behind were me, my mother, and the person who seemed to be my father.
“…I’m sorry. Ei, I’m sorry――”
Nothing but apologies echoed around us.
Apparently, the place I’d reincarnated into was the kind of tradition-bound village where sacrifices were totally normal.
At this rate, I’m not the protagonist, I’m the main dish.
■
I turned ten.
I’m still alive and well.
“Man, popsicles are good.”
The blazing sun was pretty harsh for a ten-year-old.
So lately, it had become my daily routine to cool off under this absurdly huge tree while licking away at a popsicle.
“So hot…”
I had a popsicle in my right hand and a fan in my left.
I was wearing a thin one-piece dress, but my hair was stupidly long, so it was unbearably hot.
Naturally, I was a boy.
And yet, I was made to dress like a girl all the time.
It was painfully obvious they were completely planning to offer me up as a girl sacrifice.
“Yeah, popsicles really are great.”
It was August now. In other words, summer vacation――not.
Because I didn’t go to school.
At first, I thought maybe this was a world without compulsory education, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Because there absolutely was a school in this village.
Sumime Village was a tiny backwater with a total population of around fifty.
Judging by the presence of flat-screen TVs and smartphones, the era was definitely close to my previous life, but even so, this village alone felt like part of it had been left behind by the times.
A wooden school building with only five students, and roads that weren’t even paved.
And there were lots of rice paddies and fields, with the nearby river serving as a playground.
It was complete backwater.
Apparently, the other children had used this summer break to go out to the city.
I was jealous beyond words. I had basically been under house arrest in this village ever since I was born.
And to make matters worse, I was forbidden from getting information about the outside world through the internet, TV, or anything else.
If the person inside me weren’t an adult, this would’ve broken me.
I’m barely managing by convincing myself it’s just an insanely long vacation, but no innocent child should be made to live like this.
“――Ei, hey.”
A voice suddenly called out from above my head.
When I looked up, there was a young girl sitting on the end of a thick branch.
With striking blue hair cut in a bob, the girl swung her legs as she looked at me and smiled.
She was like an adorable little fairy.
Though she happened to be the root of all these traditions.
“Oh, Sora. Hey.”
When I raised a hand in reply, Sora smiled brightly and jumped down from the branch.
Then she landed softly from a height that had to be at least five meters and came running over to me. Yeah, definitely inhuman.
Her name was Sora.
A genuine monster through and through.
She suddenly appeared when I was three, and we became close.
At first I thought she was just a girl from the neighborhood, but when I explained to my parents that she was a little girl with blue hair, it caused an uproar throughout the whole village.
Apparently, I had been “chosen.” What a disgraceful honor.
Ever since then, she would sometimes appear like this on clear days.
Maybe summer was her favorite season, because from July to September she showed up frequently.
Incidentally, nobody but me could see her. I’m scared…
“Is that a popsicle?”
Tilting her head, Sora asked in a slightly childish voice.
“Yeah. I’m the Sorautsushi-sama, so everything’s free.”
“I envy you.”
“You do? Then let’s go get some.”
The moment I said that, Sora’s face lit up and she started bouncing excitedly.
“Really!? Yay!”
Little kids really are cute.
“As expected of my Sorautsushi!”
If she weren’t inhuman, that is.
She would’ve been even cuter if she weren’t.
“Then let’s go.”
“Yes! Let’s hold hands. I have heard that humans do that outside.”
She still talked like a little girl who had only just learned words, but what she said sounded way too much like some higher being.
And on top of that, the fact that I was a boy and had still been properly designated as the sacrifice was just the worst.
“Popsicles, popsicles!”
I’m glad the higher being is having fun.
■
If you didn’t care about quality, the liquor store in Sumime Village had pretty much everything.
Naturally, that included popsicles.
“Mister, more popsicles please!”
“Oh, Ei. If you’re looking for my old man, he just went to the village chief’s place to deliver soba.”
The one who came out saying that was his son, Kenji-san.
He was twenty-four this year, and in this village, where it had already been decided he would inherit the liquor store, he was a rare man of common sense.
Sometimes the way he looked at me overflowed with guilt and sadness, and that alone made him too pure to survive in this village.
He was also my benefactor, secretly teaching me schoolwork and letting me use his smartphone.
As a result, I found out that this world was almost exactly the same as my previous one.
Well, there were all kinds of differences, like Japan having forty-three prefectures and there having been no Second World War, but still.
“Here, a popsicle.”
Kenji-san held out a single popsicle to me.
Sora, standing beside me, let out a dissatisfied sound.
“Kenji-san, please give me two. It’s hot today.”
“Hm… okay. But if you eat too many, you’ll upset your stomach, alright?”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you very much, human!”
Imitating me, Sora bowed her head beside me.
But the fact that she didn’t recognize him by individual name was terrifying.
“See you.”
I hurried out of the liquor store.
The higher being toddled after me.
How are your feet not dirty when you’re barefoot?
“Here, Sora, you can have both.”
“Are you sure, Ei?”
“I already had one earlier.”
I was an adult on the inside, so I could act strategically.
If I buttered her up like this, maybe I could become an “interesting human” to her and there was a chance she’d spare me someday. At least, that was what I believed.
That was why I had acted like we were equals ever since we first met.
“Ohh…! Then I will gratefully accept.”
Clearly moved, Sora held the popsicle up toward the sky.
Then she opened her mouth with sparkling eyes and took a big bite.
“Mmm! It’s cold and sweet! This is what ‘delicious’ means!”
“That’s good, that’s good.”
“I will have the other one as well.”
Sora tossed the second popsicle into the sky without losing her smile.
The next instant, I definitely heard chewing from the blue sky, and the popsicle vanished.
Please stop eating like that. It’s terrifying.
“It’s fun being with you, Ei. I haven’t had this much fun since Yoi.”
“Yoi?”
“The Sorautsushi from a little while ago! They were the one who taught me what humans are.”
“I see.”
What did “a little while ago” even mean to her?
The last time we talked, she had spoken about the Taisho era like it was the day before yesterday.
“When humans are treated like this, they say thank you, right? Ei, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Huh?”
A blazing-hot chance to avoid becoming a sacrifice had suddenly arrived.
If I clung miserably to her legs and begged, would she let me go?
…No, probably not.
If anything, I might just make her angry and get killed.
It wasn’t that I had given up on surviving.
I was simply biding my time and carefully watching for a chance to live.
“Then… I want to see the outside world.”
“The outside?”
“Yeah. I’ve never left the village.”
“Why do you want to go outside?”
“There are lots of reasons. Manga, anime, games, all kinds of stuff.”
“Hm.”
Sora suddenly moved her face close to mine.
Her blue eyes stared straight into me.
“How do you know about those things?”
“Eh?”
“You’ve never gone outside, so how do you know about them?”
Before I knew it, the sky had turned impossibly blue.
The cicadas had gone silent, and not even a single breeze was blowing.
I had no idea why, but I instantly understood one thing: this was bad.
“I-I borrowed Kenji-san’s smartphone and secretly learned about the outside world.”
“…I see. So that’s what it was.”
The wind began to blow again, and the cicadas started chirping once more.
Whew. Good thing I’m an intelligent human being.
“But I’m sorry. That kind of thing would be difficult.”
“I see. Sorry for asking the impossible.”
“…Are you disappointed?”
“Huh?”
“Ei, you looked really disappointed. Um, do you want to go to the outside world that badly?”
I hesitated a little at that question, then nodded modestly.
“B-but it’s okay. I’m having fun even now. Even if I never get to know manga or anime, I’m totally fine. Yeah, I’m fine…”
“…Are they really that interesting?”
“Huh?”
“Um, manga and anime, I mean.”
I almost nodded at her words, then stopped myself.
If a sacrifice who had lived in this village knew about things like that, then this time she really would figure me out.
Man, that was close. I almost walked right into a higher-being trap.
“Who knows. I think they’re probably interesting. From what Kenji-san says, they’re super exciting.”
“I see.”
Sora said that, then fell silent for a moment.
And then she lifted her face as if making up her mind.
“I understand. Then I will teach you, Ei! I may not be able to take you outside, but I can tell you stories. Yoi used to tell me stories often too.”
“I see, thanks (not really).”
“Then goodbye for a little while. I will return by the Karagokoro Festival.”
“Huh? But that’s five years from now――”
The next instant, Sora was gone.
All that remained was the sound of cicadas.
“At this rate, I won’t even be able to suck up to her anymore before the day of the sacrifice…”
The sky gave no answer to my muttering.
■
[Top Secret Aberrant Manifestation Record]
Document Code: EN-IR-7071-JP-TK
Classification: Ensaishu Manifestation Case / Class Omega – Absolute Secrecy
Title: Sorayodo no Oohito Tokyo Manifestation Case [Mist Smile]
■ Date and Time of Manifestation
August 15, 2020 / 14:47 – 14:52
Observed duration: only 5 minutes
■ Location of Manifestation
Minato Ward, Tokyo, vicinity of a planned building construction site (then a redevelopment block)
No reconstruction plans exist on the present structure site (owned by the Enri Agency)
■ Number of Witnesses
Those who directly engaged in sky-sight: 72
Those who entered the contact / influence zone: 293
Those who ultimately succeeded in recovering personality and memory: 1
■ Manifestation Conditions
On the afternoon of a new moon, under a clear sky, an abnormal “rigidity of the sky” occurred.
Monitoring satellite SKY-9 detected an “optical structure resembling a human smile” above ■■■.
At the same time, reports came in across central Tokyo of zero wind speed, birds ceasing flight, and acoustic abnormalities (silencing).
At 14:48, multiple callers gave testimony such as “the sky is smiling” and “it feels like it’s looking at me.”
Immediately after, the emotional waves of the humans on site all calmed at once, and conversation was severed.
■ Details of Abnormal Phenomena (Field Observation Log)
Time / Phenomenon
14:47 – The sky’s blue suddenly changed into a “burning blue.” Both wind speed and noise levels recorded 0.
14:48 – Pedestrians ceased movement. Expressions vanished from their faces. One caller stated, “I forgot how to smile.”
14:49 – A “smile made of light” appeared in the sky for several seconds. There is also a record stating that “the figure of a child” floated at the edge of the sky (not captured on CCTV footage).
14:50 – People in the surrounding area simultaneously lost awareness that they had looked at the sky. One after another, people forgot the names of their families and lovers.
14:52 – The smile vanished. Clouds began to move, the wind returned, and everyday sounds resumed. Some within the affected zone came to recognize the day as one that had never existed.
■ The Sole Avoidance Case
Subject ID: CH-TK-01
Age: 8-year-old girl
Situation: While walking with her father, she suddenly turned her back to the sky and danced while smiling, thereby avoiding sky-sight.
Result: In the subject’s own memory, she testified, “The sky was watching, but I didn’t look back at it, so I was okay.”
Note: Said behavior bore a striking resemblance to the “Dance of the Sky’s Heart” tradition of Sumime Village.
■ Hypothesis Regarding the Motive of Sorayodo no Oohito
This case is the only confirmed instance in which Sorayodo no Oohito clearly manifested in an urban area.
The following estimations have been submitted by the observation team.
On the day of the manifestation, the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art was holding a “Children’s Sky Drawings Exhibition,” and it is possible that the wavelength of those emotions caused a resonance.
Sorayodo no Oohito may have attempted, temporarily, to observe “how humans see the sky.”
However, because the human side feared being seen by the sky and voluntarily closed off their emotions, Sorayodo no Oohito also disappeared.
■ Current Processing Status
The entire manifestation area has been frozen and designated as [ZONE-DREGS77-Central City Edge].
Past records, social media, news reports, and surveillance records have all been deleted under the classification of Sky-Observation Syndrome.
Protocols are currently being established to monitor emotional synchronization at museums, exhibitions, children’s drawing displays, and similar venues, based on the assumption that similar manifestation patterns may occur again.
(TL Note: I’m already loving this authors new story. It’s giving me Minor Character TS x SCP Foundation. Cant wait to see what this is about)