Mushi-shi>19.String from the Sky

Seijiro: Say, Fuki...

Fuki: Yes?

Seijiro: Your contract with us goes through, what, next year?

Fuki: Yes... that's right.

Seijiro: So... do you have any plans after that? Do you have a job waiting for you back home or anything?

Fuki: No... not yet...

Seijiro: Well... would you... Uh... never mind. W-we can talk later. O-oh, there's the first star.

Fuki: Huh? Master Seijiro... look at this.

Seijiro: At what?

Fuki: There's a string hanging down from the sky.

Seijiro: A string?

Fuki: Can't you see? Where's it come from?



MUSHI-SHI 19.
String From The Sky 天辺の糸(てんぺんのいと)



Fuki: Now now... It's nothing to cry about... You'll wake up everybody in the house... Looks like we'll have to sleep outside. Now look, you see all the pretty stars? That's strange, that star, I wonder what happened to it? The one with the long tail, remember?

Seijiro: Just a moment. Did you really see this thing?

Fuki: A long-tailed star? Why, yes.

Seijiro: Where was it and when?

Fuki: That way, last night!

Seijiro: Can you be more specific?

Fuki: There, I think... It went that way. It sort of zigzagged and flickered on and off as it moved.

Seijiro: Odd behavior for a comet... But if you're right, it'd be the find of the century. All right, if it's there, I'll discover it. You're Fuki, right? Well done, Fuki!

Seijiro: As it turned out, I never found that star. Fuki had come to us as a nurse for my baby sister, who had a bad case of colic. Because of the strange things she used to talk about, like the star with the tail, most folks thought she was a little... peculiar.


Villagers: Fuki! Fuki! Fuki!

Seijiro: Fuki!

Servant: We've looked everywhere, sir. There's no trace.

Seijiro's Father: This is pointless. Such an ungrateful girl. She probably just got tired of working and ran off.

Seijiro: That's not true, Father! Fuki wouldn't run out on us like that! I told you what happened! She went to grab that string she saw hanging from the sky and vanished in front of my eyes!

Servant: Calm now, Young Master, if you must make up a story, surely you could come up with something better than that.

Seijiro: But I'm telling the truth... Fuki... Where in the world have you gone?


Ginko: Huh? What in the world...?


Fuki: What's this? Where am I? What happened? That man... who is he? Why am I... walking... down a mountain path... with him? And who am I?


Ginko: There. Here, drink this. C'mon, it'll help you get better. I can't spend the rest of my life looking after you, you know. You do want to get back to your old life, don't you?

Fuki: Old... life...?

Ginko: You mean you've lost your memory? That's just great... This is going to be a problem. You've been exposed to a powerful mushi influence and now you come between the mushi world and ours. Other people probably can't even see you. That white thread growing out of your hand... Touching it was probably the cause of your condition. If we don't do something, you'll keep drifting away from humanity...

Fuki: But what can we do? You seem to know a great deal about what's happened.

Ginko: I dunno. But this is my profession, so I'll do my best.

Fuki: (slurp) Ugghh!

Ginko: Oh... that's right, it's bitter.


Ginko: Hmm, your color is looking a lot better...

Fuki: You think so?

Ginko: Come on, let's go.

Fuki: ...? Where are we going?

Ginko: We need to find a village. You'll recover faster if you're around other people. If your memory doesn't come back soon, you should stay at the nearest village until you're better. Now, let's see, which way should we go?


Fuki: What's that?! There's something glowing in the ground...

Ginko: Ah... I forgot you'd be able to see it in your condition. Take care... What you see is the river of light.

Fuki: What makes it glow?

Ginko: It's filled with schools of Kouki, embryonic mushi swimming together in the stream...

Fuki: Mushi... They're the glowing things in the shadows... or that I see floating about in the air like living dust mites?

Ginko: That's right.

Fuki: Ah... Lovely...

Ginko: Don't stare at it. The glow is deadly to the eyes... If you look at it too long, you won't be able to see sunlight anymore. There's a river of light in the sky too, you know. Every night, you can see it glimmering with the light of thousand stars. Look at that instead.

Fuki: Wow... you're right... It's... it's like a reflection of the other.

Ginko: Yes, but not as dangerous. Don't confuse the one for the other.


Fuki: Ah... I slept well last night... The little mistress didn't cry at all for a change... Ah, thank goodness...

Ginko: What's wrong?

Fuki: Oh no! I have to get back...!

Ginko: Wait! You mean your memories returned?

Fuki: (gasp) There! My village lies at the foot of that mountain.


Villager: Hmm? My word... You're Fuki, aren't you? The girl who disappeared...

Villager: I don't believe it...

Villager: Incredible!

Villager: Where have you been?

Fuki: I was... in the mountains...

Villager: We searched the mountains from top to bottom. Where were you hiding?

Fuki: I wasn't! I was by the river, when I tugged on a string I saw dangling down from the sky! After that, everything went black, and when I came to, I was in the mountains! That's all I know...

Villager: There she goes again with that talk. Did you run away and come back because you were frightened? If so, it's too late for you now... The Master's already hired a new nurse to replace you.

Fuki: But I...

Seijiro: Fuki!

Fuki: Seijiro!

Seijiro: Are... are you all right?

Fuki: Yes!

Seijiro: What happened?

Fuki: I was lost... This man... he saved me!

Seijiro: There's no way I can begin to repay you. Please, won't you stay the night at my house? Come on, Fuki, let's go home.

Fuki: But I can't! They said that you... hired... someone...

Seijiro: Huh? No, I want you to come back home as my bride! I've been waiting for you to come back to ask you... Is it all right?


Seijiro's Father: Are you out of your mind?! I won't allow it!

Seijiro: Sorry. I was detained...

Ginko: Are you all right? Things sounded a little tense.

Seijiro: Heh... Well, I didn't expect him to approve right away. Now then, what did you want to see me about?

Ginko: I want you to tell me about Fuki's disappearance.

Seijiro: Well, it's... a little hard to believe... That day, Fuki said she saw a thread trailing down from the sky. She reached up as if grabbing something. At that moment, I swear to you... she was whisked up into the sky, and vanished from sight. No one believes me, of course... Until I saw it with my own two eyes, I never believed Fuki's stories. I thought she was imagining it, just like everyone else.

Ginko: She wasn't. It's a Tenpengusa...

Seijiro: Huh?

Ginko: A mushi that lives high up in the sky.

Seijiro: Mushi?

Ginko: Yes. They're born from darkness, and gather in the gloom at the border with the light. Fuki said she could see them in the shadows, or floating in the air like particles of dust... Very few have the gift of seeing them, but they exist in every corner of our world.

Seijiro: And you can see the same things Fuki does?

Ginko: I can. In fact, it's how I make my living.

Seijiro: You know... I envy you...

Ginko: Do you? Careful what you wish for. Fuki was a lucky woman... But she's still under the mushi's influence and could be in great danger... The Tenpengusa appear as a balloon-like object with a tail that floats through the sky above the Komyaku, the underground river of light. It feeds on another luminescent, airborne mushi. At night, it resembles a comet drifting through the heavens. Because of this, these mushi have also been called the wayward stars.


Fuki: It went that way. It sort of zigzagged and flickered on and off as it moved.


Ginko: Occasionally, when there isn't enough food in the sky, the Tenpengusa would extend their tendril down near the ground like a fishing line. It looks like a string. When an animal touches it, it's pulled skyward. If it's too large to swallow, the mushi spits it out, and it falls back to the ground. Usually, the intended victim is killed when it strikes the earth. Fuki was lucky, she landed in a tree and it cushioned the fall. But because she was almost swallowed, she is still deeply under the mushi's influence. That's why you couldn't find her when you searched the mountains. She'd turned into something a normal human eye couldn't see... I've been giving her this medicine and it's helped a lot, but she's still not cured. That string on her hand binds her to the sky, trapping her between our world and the mushi's. Her condition is delicate. She needs more than this medicine to be normal once again. She has to want to be normal. Her desire to be human must be stronger than the pull of that string. It's up to you to make her feel that way. Or, you could just tell me to mind my own business.

Seijiro: No... I'll take your advice.


Seijiro: Are you sure you can't stay longer?

Ginko: Thanks, but it's past time for me to be moving on.

Seijiro: Well, please be sure to stay in touch, because we'll be having a wedding soon. We'd be very honored if you'd attend.

Ginko: Me? Heh. That's very kind, but you don't have to.

Fuki: Please! You made the whole thing possible, Ginko.

Ginko: All right then. Fine, if you insist. I'll stop by.


Ginko: Soon after... I received a letter... It was from Seijiro. He was desperate. Fuki had disappeared again.


Ginko: What happened? What went wrong?

Seijiro: Ginko, thank goodness!


Seijiro: No matter how many times I implored him, my father wouldn't give us his blessing. I begged him to change his mind everyday. The longer it dragged on, the more miserable Fuki became. At the same time, Fuki's body seemed to grow lighter, until even the slightest breeze would send her floating up into the air. Soon, she was unable to stay on the ground, no matter what she did.


Seijiro: Fuki, you've got to come down from there!

Fuki: I'm trying, I swear to you, but I don't know how!

Seijiro: Listen to me, please, I'm sure Father will come around soon, but if he sees you like this...

Fuki: I'm sorry...! But I can't control it, it just happens!

Seijiro: All right, now just stay there. I've got to go and get your medicine.

Fuki: I will...


Seijiro: Then one day...


Seijiro: ...! Fuki! Fuki?!


Seijiro: She was gone... I haven't seen her since...

Ginko: Didn't I tell you? You had to hold on to her and make her a human.

Seijiro: I tell you, I tried! I wanted my family to accept her! I did! But... the way she was, I couldn't...

Ginko: And there's the problem. You couldn't bring yourself to accept her, could you?

Seijiro: ...!

Ginko: And because of your rejection, Fuki's human form faded away.

Seijiro: Faded... away...?

Ginko: She's still here. You just can't see her anymore...

Seijiro: That's just ridiculous!

Ginko: If you don't want to lose her forever, you must accept her -- the way she is.

Seijiro: Accept her...? I can't even see her! So, how...

Ginko: You're the only chance she has left. Listen, right now, you are all that ties her to our world. But just barely.


Seijiro: I don't... I don't know what I'm supposed to do... Fuki?


Fuki: Master Seijiro... Why do you always spend so much time looking at the stars?

Seijiro: Hmm... I'm not sure I know... I guess because no matter crazy the day is or what my worries are, the stars are always there at night and never let me down. I find that very comforting for some reason...

Fuki: I understand. When the little mistress is crying and won't stop and I feel down, I take my mind off it by counting the stars. That's why I feel so lonely when the sun comes up. One by one, stars vanish... Before you know it, there isn't a single one left. It's sad. Where do the stars all go during the daytime, I wonder?

Seijiro: That's silly, Fuki. The stars don't go anywhere, they're still right there in the sky.

Fuki: Are you sure?

Seijiro: Of course I am. The sunlight's far too strong for us to see them, but they're up there, the same they are at night.

Fuki: So they don't go anywhere... even though we can't see them... they're still up there shining for us...


Seijiro: Fuki...


Ginko: No one in the village had ever seen anything quite like it before... A hastily-arranged wedding with the groom, but no bride. What's more, the groom behaved as if there was nothing unusual, and his new wife was by his side.

Seijiro: Or maybe... you're over here?

Ginko: Needless to say, his behavior quickly led people to gossip that he had lost his mind... Then, soon after, he set up house alone on the edge of the village. As always, he continued to talk with his absent wife as if she was still there... Eventually, the villagers got used to it, and stopped coming by to gawk. But as time passed...


Fuki: Seijiro!

Villager: Hey. That girl... Isn't that...

Villager: (gasp) That's Fuki. When did she come back?


Ginko: Soon, everyone could see Fuki. From then on, they say Fuki remained by her husband's side, her mysterious disappearances ceased and were eventually forgotten.