Coral Of The Moon

tipt moon
Coral of the Moon
t suk i n o sa n g o

presented by Ulrezaj & Seki http://mazuisubs.com/tsukinosango

瑚珊の月 瑚珊の月 瑚珊の月

Nasu Kinoko

1. It’s probably not true, but my grandmother supposedly came from the moon.

The year was finally nearing its end. Tonight is the eleventh full moon. After one more month, this year will die away as time embraces the new year, one that offersno promises. There was even less guarantee for us than the translucent jellyfish that we would survive to see it. For the humanity of today, days and months are simply things that are lost. The word “death” is a part of everything here. From what I hear, the people of times long past used to hold a more positive view of things. The calendar was not something that inexorably consumed time, butrather was a cyclical symbol, treated as something that comes back around, or something like that. To put it simply, it came down to data re-use. They took recycling too far. They say that humanity was once gluttonous and greedy, but from our perspective they were incredibly stingy. By the Gregorian calendar, it’s probably around the year 3000 AD right now. Humanity as it once was has long sinceended. There is no longer any guarantee that the sun will continue to come up, but on the other hand no one fights anymore. However, the civilization that humanity spent thousands of years developing has all but drifted away into the air. I offhandedly ignored several dozen marriage proposals, and today, as with yesterday and the days before, I spent my time gazing at the coastline from the high groundof the island. Water in the sky, sky in the water. In the sky of the moon is a shattered sea. As I watched the glimmering sea, I unconsciously blurted out part of a song I learned from my grandmother. More accurately, the song actually came from my great-great grandmother, and while I understand the words themselves, I’ve never understood their meaning. I don’t like speaking ill of my ancestors,but I get the impression that she may have been a little too girlish. These are times when you can taste the end of the world, and yet she seemed to have been a person who lived in dreams. My mother and grandmother and her mother all shared the same tastes, and likewise, were all stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately I turned out to be a bit of an ugly duckling. I’m not as beautiful as my mother,and more importantly, I didn’t inherit her girlishness. The only reason that I keep getting marriage proposals is probably because of this island. “Oh? I guess Arishima’s prince is returning home.” I felt the wind as I looked up towards the sky just in time to see a jet black airplane flying by. Gaww, sounded the sturdy engine. 2

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One of the last traces of civilization, it cut off themoonlight as it floated away. Or perhaps it’s already merely a remnant. Its dull steel frame shone as it headed into the eastern sky. With that, the kill count had reached sixteen. And a new record this time, too. I had forced upon him an even more impossible task than usual, and the suitor had turned tail before even a day had passed. It was so unprecedented that the island even scolded me, but Icouldn’t help it today. It was his fault for coming on a full moon. He should realize that everything has a time and place. I know the oxygen is thinning, but if you’re going to talk about love, then at least understand that much. The island I live on is a small colony of less than fifty people. The land that holds a city lies far across the sea. There is no port here, and on the beach is a coral reefunique to this crescent-shaped island. For the people living on the island, the coral reef is a part of everyday life, but for the people of the city, it’s apparently more valuable than jewels. Since around my grandmother’s time, this island has been treated as sacred ground. It is absolutely forbidden to enter by sea, so only the privileged who own an aircraft are able to come. The reason I’m...