Majisuka 0: Origins (First Part)

Prologue : The World

“The bird fights its way out of the egg
The egg is the world
Who would be born
Must first destroy a world”.

   I have been acquainted with Herman Hesse’s work since even before learning the basics of spelling. A distorted way of raising a child, you might say, except I wasn’t raised by anything but the world itself. As the newborn mouse, immediately confronted by the reality of a world roaming with predators, I grew up and sharpened my fangs in the shadow.  

I eventually came to the conclusion, that the world we live in is a cruel one.

This feeling kept resurging inside my chest as I directed my attention to a medium-sized card box sitting in front of me. It wasn’t sealed, as if the owner purposely wanted to reveal its content. It was night, 11:34 pm. This parcel had been delivered in front of one of many small flats I owned in the east branch of the city, in Tokyo.

The sender knew of my current location, even though I always made sure to move from one flat to another with utmost discretion. Even Center had no idea where I was at the moment. Not bad, whoever it was.

But the content of this box wasn't exactly what I had expected. And as cruel as it might sound, I even thought of leaving it here, in the middle of the street.

After all, was it any of my concern?

I had no desire to get involved in anything of the sort. My policy was to never play a game I wouldn't find beneficial, or remotely amusing. I didn't know what this person had in mind, sending this package to me. A mouse. If he was smart enough to pinpoint my location, then he also had to know what my response would be. He surely knew that this world we lived in was a cruel one. Too bad though, he even bothered to send a note with its name.

I spined the heel of my Timberlands 180 degrees and engulfed myself in the darkness of the alley. But a few meters away, an ounce of hesitation crossed my mind. And I stopped in my tracks.

Was it curiosity that made me stop, or the last of hope of curing a tainted heart ?

For once, I had no idea.

I hurriedly went back to the card box and studied its content again. This time, I noticed another object neatly placed under the important one. It was a scarf. A red one, seemingly belonging to a sailor uniform. A small pin was attached to it. A red flower, decorated with the letters M and J.

A satisfied twitch of the lips emerged from the void of my usual expression. And as I removed the hood hiding my face, I thought to myself that "this world was amusing".

-So I finally have the pleasure to make your acquaintance, I said, smiling from ear to ear.

The box tilted. The small thing carefully placed inside it twitched, as if my realizing its true identity had awakened it.

At last, she made her first sound. A gentle scream, full of life and pure enough to lightly warm up my icy heart.

 
Noticing my presence, she locked her gaze on me. The sudden move made me halt my chewing. The gum became heavy inside my mouth.

Those eyes. I had seen them somewhere.

 
-Now, don’t look at me like that, I said, grinning. I’ll start feeling nostalgic.

I held her between my hands, studying her from head to toe. But, probably because she had never seen a mouse before, she found it appropriate to grab my black bangs and start playing with them. "What an annoying thing", I thought to myself.

But leaving this baby here, I could only wonder what had happened to its parents.

I replaced the hood back on my head, regaining my composure.

-What an interesting thing you are, I said as I put the little girl back in her box.

In a quick gesture, I lifted it of the ground.

-This is a serious world we live in. But I'm sure you'll get it soon enough, Sakura.