Mushi-shi>16.Sunrise Serpent

Man:
Uh....So peaceful..

Ginko:
You can say that again.

Man:
But when it's this nice and sunny every day, people tend to get lazy.
You've ever notice that?
My wife doesn't wanna get out of her bed in the morning, sometimes she sleeps so late,
she doesn't even bother to make breakfast.

Ginko:
I wonder if you know that they always say, "spring night knows no dawn."

Man:
She's also been very forgetful lately, at last time she went to the market, she left her kid behind.
She didn't even remember bringing him.

Ginko:
That's pretty bad. You would be like you she hasn't forgotten you by the time you get home.

Man:
At this point that might be a good thing.

Ginko:
Tell me something. Your wife, Does she have any trouble sleeping [in the/at] night?

Man:
Huh? No, she snores like a bear.

Ginko:
Good. That's a relief.

Man:
What are you talking about, it's not good ! She's so loud I can't sleep.

Ginko:
I've got some medicine for snoring.

Man:
Really? Does it work?

Ginko:
Thanks.

Kaji:
Excuse me, about what you said....

Ginko:
Hm ? You mean a snoring medicine ?

Kaji:
No, about forgetting things.
Is there some connection between that and having trouble sleeping? Is it bad?

Ginko:
Why? Do you know someone like that?

Kaji:
I'm home.

Sayo:
Kaji ! Please you've got to help me ! There is a strange creature here !

Kaji:
Creature ?

Kaji:
You mean this crab ? You forgot these too ? They come up from the river about this time every year.
Remember ?

Sayo:
What? Really are you sure?
Oh, Hi ! You are (the) one of the Kaji's friends. Nice to see you again.

Kaji:
You've never met him. This is Mushi-master. His name is Ginko.

Sayo:
He is a what ?

Ginko:
Hi. Mind if I come in ?

Sayo:
Please do. I'm Kaji's mother, Sayo.

Kaji:
She is like that all the time. Don't get me wrong. She's always been a little clumsy, and she's forgotten things from time to time before.
But ever since last spring, the thing she forgets seems more and more bizarre.

Kaji:
After a busy day I had lots of customers, I used some of money I made to buy some dango, her favorite food.

Sayo:
Kaji, these are delicious. I've never tasted anything like them before.

Kaji:
What are you talking about ? You've had these before ?

Sayo:
No, I haven't. What do you say ? That [is secretly eating/I secretly eat] these when no ones are around ?

Kaji:
I couldn't believe it. She completely forgot to know about dango. Then, one another day,

Sayo:
I was thinking about selling the ones that I don't wear too often.

Kaji:
What's the matter ?

Sayo:
Is this one mine? I don't recall having one like this.

Kaji:
Of course it is. You kept it safe because it was expensive.

Sayo:
I did? Now I remember this old thing. It didn't look good on me, so I never wore it.

Kaji:
Among the kimonos that she rarely wore, she only forgot about the ones with prints on them.

Sayo:
It sure is cold up for today.

Kaji:
Um.

Sayo:
Hey, don't scare me like that. Why would you do such a strange thing anyway ?

Kaji:
What do you mean strange? All I did was a sneeze.

Sayo:
What's that?

Kaji:
She had forgotten what a sneeze was.

Kaji:
Then, when we went to visit our relatives for New Years,

Sayo:
Kaji, Who are those two, in the back ?

Kaji:
Uncle Masa and Aunt Mitsu.

Sayo:
And what about the girl next to them ?

Kaji:
That's your little sister!

Ginko:
Even her sister? Just forgotten, That is strange. It's not just forgetfulness.
Sounds like progressive amnesia.

Kaji:
Exactly. And now, she stays up all day and night working never sleeping.
She used to rest more often, and take naps in between work underneath that tree outside.
There's definitely something wrong with her.

Sayo:
Come on, Dinner is ready. You too Ginko, please join us. Though, I warn you it's not fancy.

Ginko:
Kaji.

Kaji:
Um?

Ginko:
After dinner, I need you to do something for me. Write down everything that your mother has forgotten.

Ginko:
Who's that for?

Sayo:
I'm sorry, don't mind it. It's something I do for my husband who's away on business.

Ginko:
Your husband?

Sayo:
Yes. He is a traveling merchant and he spends most of the year on the road.
I've heard that setting him a place keeps him from going hungry during his travels.
It's silly, that this is my conscience.

Ginko:
I sure hope she hasn't forgotten that he died or something.

Kaji:
Rest this food.

Kaji:
Mom, I've got told you that was wasteful.

Sayo:
It's not that much food, Kaji.

Kaji:
Would you (? take out of ) our portions to make it ?

Sayo:
Well, Who do you think your father's traveling around for, anyway ?
I'm sure he is hungrier wherever he is than we are here at home.

Kaji:
Yeah, but still, he should get job (???). (?????) make much.

Sayo:
Kaji...

Kaji:
He should've been home by now. He hasn't even written us a letter.
I think the reason you've been forgetting things is because he makes you worry. I wish he just...

Sayo:
Stop it right now !

Sayo:
Kaji!

Sayo:
Eating in and running off like that, how rude.
I'm sorry about that. He just wants his father to come home, too. [He's messed up/He misses xxx] terribly.
See my husband, he is a nice man, probably too nice for his own good.
He was most likely helping someone and then (???????) he got lost.

Ginko:
I don't think his father is the only person that your son is worried about.

Sayo:
I know. He asked you to come here and help me with my condition, didn't he ?

Ginko:
Yes. He's told me most of what's been going on.

Sayo:
Tell me. Do you know what's happening to me ?

Ginko:
I don't. Not yet, anyway.

Sayo:
Oh, I see...
I'm asking you as well. If you can find the way to, Please help, for my son's sake.
I'm afraid that if this keeps up, one day I'll wake up to discover that I've forgotten my husband and son as well.
Worse still, there's the possibility that I forget that I've forgotten.
That's..what scares me the most.

Ginko:
All done ?

Kaji:
Yeah. I think so.

Kaji:
Hey, what are you doing ?

Ginko:
Hmm... I was trying to see there was a common thread or a pattern to the memories she's forgotten.
But I don't see one.

Ginko:
Hey, do the relatives she forgot about have anything in common ?

Kaji:
Hmm... Yeah, they all live on the other side of the river. We've never seen them, not even in the market.

Ginko:
I see. It seems she's forgetting the thing she has the least contact with first.

Ginko:
No, if that was a case, she would have forgotten her husband a long time ago.

Ginko:
It's getting pretty late, but it still doesn't look like she's going to get in sleep.

Kaji:
Huh. She says she can't sleep. Not even if she tries to. That's why she can stay up all night weaving.
While she's working, she also uses the time to think about Dad over and over. So, she won't forget him.

Ginko:
Huh!?

Ginko:
I see.

Kaji:
If she could at least get some sleep, It would be easier for her to wait for him.

Ginko:
The warm breeze, the fragrance of the flowers, the sound of the loom...
If this is how all of her nights are, I can think of any reason that she would've been drawn into a deep, deep sleep.

Ginko:
Hmm... Looks like she's finally starting to nod off...

Ginko:
She is already waking up ?

Sayo:
Oh, morning already ?

Sayo:
Time to make breakfast...

Kaji:
Hm ? What's the matter ?

Ginko:
So, That's it. Just as I suspected.

Sayo:
A mushi that eats memories ?

Ginko:
Yes. It's known as kagedama.
It's dark, and translucent, and has a membrane-like form. It likes to hide in the shadows of large, old trees.
There, It waits for animals and people to rest while they sleep. the mushi enters the ear to makes its way to the brain.
After that, the host rarely sleeps, and little by little, they gradually lose their memories.

Sayo:
It lives in the shadow of that cherry blossom in the garden ?

Ginko:
Yes. Most likely.
Once it consumes enough memories, the mushi divides itself.
The new half is then sent out from the host's body during brief moment of sleep and hides in the shadows of nearby trees.
That's how they reproduce.
By nature, they are weak and fragile. You can vanish it (?remaining) in the sunlight for too long.
I'm sorry, but since this mushi has already embedded itself into your brain, there's nothing we can do.

Kaji:
Wait, you mean there's no cure ?

Ginko:
The only known weakness of kagedama is sunlight. We've got nothing. There's no way to shine sunlight in your brain.

Ginko:
But It might still be possible to protect the memories you don't want to forget.
As an example, let's say, memories are stored in the same way the drawer's holding things inside a closet.
Your memories of dangos, relatives who live far away, sneezes, they are all categorized and filed in the countless different drawers.
The kagedama takes the whole drawer out, one drawer at a time.
The order chooses doesn't seem to have anything to do with your interests, and appears to be completely random.
But, there's still hope. There is a set of memories that kagedama hasn't touched yet.
The things that you do repeatedly every day, the things that you see, and think.
Like how to cook, and to weave on the loom, the memories of your son, the husband that you set place for every day...
The mushi probably leaves the memories pertaining to the basics of daily living until last to prolong the host's life as much as possible.

Sayo:
So, you are saying I won''t forget those things?

Ginko:
It's just a theory. I don't know for sure.
It could be the later on, if your supply of memories starts to deplete, the mushi might begin to prey on those vital ones as well.
So, with that in mind, my suggestion would be this: Store up as many memories as possible, and continue to think about the ones you don't want to forget over and over again.

Sayo:
I understand. I'll try my best.

Kaji:
You can do it, Mom. Instead of all staying home, you should go out sometimes.

Sayo:
You're right. Maybe I'll do just that.
Instead of waiting for your father, maybe I should go out to find him.

Kaji:
Huh?

Sayo:
Stop making that silly face. Come on, I've thought about doing this for a while now.
I'm just scared, scared to find out what happened to keep him away from home for so long.
But not anymore. I'm tired of waiting.

Kaji:
You think you can find him?

Sayo:
I do. Your father often spoke of the city in the west. It's at least to go place to start looking.

GInko:
Is she going to be all right?

Sayo:
And you'll come along and help me, right? Kaji?


Kaji:
This is it.

Ginko:
Right.

Ginko:
Thanks for everything.

Sayo:
No, thank you.

Ginko
Be careful, OK?

Sayo:
You too. Take care.

Ginko:
Even as I was leaving, I didn't know for sure that the decision was (???) best (???) them.
I found out what happened a little more than a year later.

Ginko:
Ah, I see you returned.

Kaji:
Ginko!

Sayo:
Good afternoon, welcome!
What would you like?

Man:
Hmm... let me see...

Ginko:
Your mother seems well? I was wondering about her.

Kaji:
Yeah.

Ginko:
Did you find your father?

Kaji:
Yeah. He was in that city to the west, and he was living there with a different family.

Man:
Sure. I know him. He lives just down the road, that way.

Kaji's father:
There we go...(laughing)

Woman:
Do you like them?

Kaji:
Mom! Why didn't you at least say something? Mom, why?

On our way back, Mom walked silently, never saying a word.
She's just kept moving, never stopped to eat or sleep. Until finally,

Mom, you need to...
Mom! Mom!

She collapsed from exhaustion.
After that, she remained sleep for the next several days.

Kaji:
Morning already...
Something was here, and just left.
Mom, are you OK?

Sayo:
Well, Of course I am. What's wrong?
Hmm... I slept like a log. Looks like it's time to start making breakfast.
Where are we?

Kaji:
What did you say?

Sayo:
Why are we here? What are we doing in this place, Kaji?

Kaji:
Run away back from vacation.

Sayo:
We are?
What was that? What was that sound?

Kaji:
It's nothing. Why don't we eat something?

Sayo:
Yeah. Good idea. I'm starving.

Kaji:
Yeah... Yeah, Me too.
Hey, Mom. After eating, let's go home.

That morning when she woke, she forgot almost everything . All that remained memories are our house, a few personal effects, and me. Everything else was gone.

Ginko:
During the time she was depressed, nearly all of her remaining memories were eaten away.

Kaji:
But still, she remembers... She remembers how to cook, and she still never forgot about me.
She is going outside and making new memories, experiences everyday, just like you said she should.
She forgets most of it by the next morning, but I really think she is enjoying herself each of every day.

Ginko:
Does she still have trouble sleeping?

Kaji:
Yeah. She stays up all night working at loom, just like before.

Ginko:
I see. Same as always.

Kaji:
(laughing) That's mom, same as always.

Kaji:
I'm home.

Sayo:
Welcome back. Dinner is almost ready. Go wash your hands and clean up, OK?

Kaji:
Huh.

Kaji:
What are you doing? You set an extra place again, mom?

Sayo:
So, I did. But, why did I do that? It's just you and me.
I don't...I don't know why I felt me to do something like that.
But for some reason, setting an extra place makes me feel better...
Why is that...?
I wonder...