Mysterious Ability

I didn't feel worried today since I wouldn't be going to school. After entering the house and preparing myself a satisfying breakfast, I went to the living room and knelt in front of the frame that held my grandfather's picture. For a while, I looked into my grandfather's eyes, trying to understand the memories I saw. It's just that someone shattered you with a single action. I wish you were here right now so you could answer all the questions that are bothering me...

I shook my head to dispel the memories that came to mind and, when I got up from where I was sitting, I blew away the slight dust that had accumulated on my grandfather's frame and put it back in its place as it was.

When I returned to the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator door and noticed that it was slightly less stocked than it should be. Lately, I've been snacking a bit too much. If I continue like this, I'll start eating even more unhealthy, and I don't want my frail body to be further damaged. As I opened the back door and looked up at the sky, I saw clouds moving gently with the breeze. The brightness of the sun was so dazzling that it could blind a person.

"It's very hot today..." The best part of summer is its warmth, but I don't like it. I don't understand who could enjoy sweating and hot gusts of wind. I wish the summer season would end soon.

I noted down the items missing from the refrigerator in a notebook and took my allowance, which I would use during difficult times, before putting on my shoes and heading outside for grocery shopping.

As I moved away from home, the number of people increased. Our house and our neighbors' houses are located in a remote area that is generally not preferred. People come here to pray in the temples or make a wish.

As I approached the city center, the buzzing sounds of people grew louder. That's why I don't like being in public. I feel like there are faces watching me as I pass through the crowd. Out of every ten people I encounter, nine of them are looking at me and having strange thoughts about me.

I entered the first shop I could find. When I opened the door, the bell on the door tinkled a few times. A man who resembled the shop owner raised his head from under the cashier counter and looked at me.

With his straight, narrow glasses and slightly black and white speckled hair, and his dirty beard, he stared expressionlessly into my eyes.

"Welcome, how can I assist you?" The man who emerged from under the cashier counter stood up and cleaned the dust off himself before speaking to me.

"I will get a pack of eggs, as well as some molasses jam and a few cucumbers."

"Alright, sir. Please wait a few minutes, I will prepare your order right away." The shopkeeper headed towards the back of the shop and disappeared from my sight among the shelves.

While waiting for the shopkeeper, I sat on the small single chairs right next to the entrance door and waited for him to return.

The shopkeeper took longer than usual to come back; he would usually come back right away. Besides, I don't think it's so difficult to get the items I requested. Well, I guess waiting seems to be my only option.

The bell on the shop's door tinkled again, and I turned my head in that direction to see who had entered. To my surprise, it was none other than my classmate and the bully, Yamada-kun. There were bruises under his eyes, and one corner of his lip was peeled and scabbed. He seemed to have been roughed up by someone. As Yamada-kun noticed that I continued to stare at him, he must have gotten angry because he glared into my eyes with an irritated expression.

At that moment, the shopkeeper arrived just in time to defuse the tension and complete my order.

"Excuse me, sir. While gathering the items, I accidentally broke the eggs, so I had to go to the storage room to get new ones. Here you go, all your items amount to a total of 2500 Yen."

Wow, that's almost half of all the money I've saved. Perhaps I'll need to look for a part-time job soon. After taking the items from the shopkeeper's hand and handing over the money, I quickly left the shop and started running with cautious steps to make sure Yamada-kun couldn't catch up with me.

As I approached home, I turned around to check behind me and saw that it was clear. Feeling tired, I slightly bent my knees and looked down, breathing heavily.

I'm not used to running this much, and I also felt very thirsty, so I needed to get home as soon as possible.

I opened the door of the house and stepped inside. After placing the groceries in the kitchen, as I was about to go upstairs to my room, a strange sensation arose within me as soon as I touched the handrail of the stairs.

Trying to understand what was happening, I looked at the handrail, and the peculiar writings I had seen the previous day appeared on my right hand. The handrail started darkening and turning into dust, which fell onto the steps of the stairs.

As I quickly pulled my hand back, the darkening and transformation of the handrail into dust stopped. I paused while wiping the sweat off my forehead. What if I touch myself with my own hand? Would I turn into dust, just like the handrail?

"Damn it..." I was even afraid to wipe off the sweat from my forehead. I immediately stood up and when I looked at my hands again, the strange black writings had disappeared. So, it seemed that what I saw was not just a hallucination.

I approached the staircase again and when I picked up the dust particles that had fallen to the ground, some of them fell again, but I examined the remaining dusty and darkened pieces of wood in my hand. When I sniffed a bit of it, it had the smell of burnt wood, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that the wood had decayed and turned into dust. I didn't know what kind of power caused this, but if I acted carelessly, my fate could be like that of the decaying wood.

Therefore, since I didn't intend to cause any more damage to the house, I tried to handle things using my forearm. I opened and closed the doors of the rooms with my elbow, and I did the same with the faucets in the bathroom.

Is this how I have to live now? It's so cumbersome...

When an idea came to my mind, I suddenly found myself in my grandfather's workshop, where he used to spend most of his time. Although it looked like a fragile place made of old pieces of wood put together, my grandfather had assured me that it had remained solid for over ten years.

Of course! Here's the translation:

My grandfather never allowed me to enter his workshop during his lifetime because he would say there were dangerous items inside that could harm me accidentally. After a ten-year wait, I was about to enter my grandfather's workshop for the first time. My heart started racing involuntarily. I opened the door with my elbow and let the creaking door swing open on its own.

The workshop was dusty and dark since my grandfather didn't like working in bright light, so he had nailed wooden boards over the windows, giving the interior a moldy and damp smell. I lit the gas lamp in the workshop and gathered everything I needed, then stepped back out.

I spread out a few materials on the grass and sat next to them, slowly touching the objects with both of my hands as an experiment. The first thing I touched was an old rusty crowbar. Despite placing both hands on it, my hands were no different from ordinary human hands. No strange markings appeared on them.

Moreover, when I touched the staircase railing back then, a strange sensation had occurred within me. So, as I touched the subsequent objects, I tried to recall that sensation but couldn't succeed. Even after spending a few hours, I couldn't bring out the mysterious power in my hands. Letting out a sigh, I placed the last item on the grass and looked up at the sky, closing my eyes and trying to think.

I tried to remember that moment again. I was tired and out of breath, so I couldn't remember much, but for a brief moment, Yamada-kun had appeared before my eyes. "Sighh..." No matter where I go in this small town, I'll keep encountering him, won't I? I wish I could be a little stronger...

As I thought about Yamada-kun again, I felt something strange stirring inside me. I opened my eyes and looked at my hands, noticing peculiar markings on both of them. This time, I touched all the objects on the grass with my hands.

Just as I had suspected, I don't know what kind of power is coming from my hands, but it instantly decays and destroys the objects I touch. It's as if I forcibly extract the life energy from a living being...

I don't know the meaning behind these markings that have appeared on my hands, but I can sense that they are triggered by anger and resentment. If I unintentionally get angry at something, the situation could truly worsen. So, I need to learn how to control this power in my hands as soon as possible.

Upon reentering my grandfather's workshop, I began searching for something that could suppress my power. If this power belongs to my grandfather, he must have used something to restrain it in the early days.

With these thoughts in mind, I started rummaging through the workshop. I blew off the dust from the dusty shelves and opened all the boxes with "Do Not Open" written on them, taking a quick look inside.

Especially from one box, I found a pair of black leather gloves. They were slightly big for my hands, but after putting them on both hands, I noticed that the gloves molded themselves according to the structure of my own hands.

"It shrunk..." I whispered quietly to myself. Perhaps this could be what I was looking for. It was something my grandfather used to use. I'm not sure if it still works, but I believe in my grandfather.

It was approaching noon, with the sun shining directly overhead, when a gunshot echoed through the air, causing the crows' cries to reverberate throughout the forest. At first, I couldn't understand what was happening because there were rarely many people around here, and such incidents had never occurred before.

Before entering the house, I quickly locked the door to the workshop. Then, I stepped inside and made my way to the living room. Grabbing the TV remote, I turned on the television and started watching the breaking news.

"According to the latest reports from Tokyo, a student attending a middle school near the Kawaguchi Forest has lost their life in an armed conflict. The victim, identified as Yamada Katsuo, wearing the uniform of Nagamine Middle School, was fatally shot in the head. The responsible party behind this incident remains unknown, but the government is tirelessly searching for those accountable for the continuous stream of heinous acts in recent times."

This... Yamada-kun. When I saw him earlier, his face was injured. It seems he must have angered someone. I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for him, or if the voice inside my heart is right, saying he got what he deserved.