[Pirika Library] "Yugure" (2004 characters)

Yugure is read as 'yugure'. It is not 'tagure'.

He was called that because he would go rogue (gureru) when evening came. Even though he was an honor student in the morning, at noon, and at night, he would go rogue in the evening. He became a delinquent. He became ill-behaved. To give specific examples, he would run toward the airfield instead of heading to cram school, or force himself to ride a tricycle that was broken and unable to run.

Outside of the evening, Yugure was a boy who was kind to others, as beautiful as a sewer rat, and like a train running toward glory. Since he would return to normal once evening passed and it was time for dinner, his parents did not worry too much, and Yugure grew up just like that. The people around Yugure also realized that as long as they avoided him during the twilight hours, no trouble would occur, so his friends never left him.

There was also a woman who only knew Yugure in the evening. Around the time the sky began to darken, she would watch from her room window as Yugure rode a tricycle with two wheels missing, letting out strange cries while racing toward the airfield with sharp eyes.
Thinking to herself, "Isn't that just a unicycle by now?"

When he reached the period of his life that could be called the evening of life, approaching old age, Yugure began to go rogue not just at twilight, but all day long. He frequented gambling dens, dabbled in drugs, and made women cry. To give specific examples, he started buying Loto 6 at the lottery ticket counter every week. Even though he used to cure colds or complex fractures just by sleeping soundly for one night with sheer willpower, he couldn't beat hay fever and started buying Allegion at the drugstore. Since his first grandchild was a girl, Yugure, who had only raised boys, couldn't soothe her well and ended up making her cry instead when he tried to make funny faces to make her laugh.

Returning to the story of a single lovely flower.
No, I have never told such a story.
The girl who used to tease Yugure by saying, "Isn't that just a unicycle by now?" was called Yuyami (Twilight). Before the moon began to shine in the sky, during the time between dusk and night, Yuyami would lose her sight. It was a rare disease called periodic blindness, and her vision would recover once full night began. During that time, Yuyami would spend it ruminating on the scenery she had just seen. She would often fall asleep just like that. In her eyes, which had temporarily lost their sight, the image of the rogue Yugure was repeatedly projected. In her dreams, Yuyami was next to Yugure. Running at a speed that should have been impossible, exchanging words that should have been impossible to say directly.

Those who suffered from the same disease as Yuyami either lost their sight or passed away before becoming adults. Yuyami was also prepared for this. Wishing to see as many beautiful sights as possible while she was alive and while she could still see, her parents took Yuyami all over the world. When the time came for her to lose her sight, Yuyami would recall the breathtaking scenery of nature she had just seen, the works of art lined up in museums, and the faces of her parents who laughed at her trivial jokes, as if to carve them into her memory. However, there was something that would interrupt all of them. It was the figure of Yugure running wildly through the streets when dusk fell. Eventually, she lost her sight completely, and as much time passed and many scenes became things that existed only in her memory, Yugure continued to run within her.

More years passed.
By the time Yugure had his second grandchild, his behavior had returned to normal. The twilight of his life had come to an end. The maximum lottery prize he had ever won was 4,800 yen, and his hay fever continued. His first grandchild had grown quite a bit and no longer cried just by seeing Yugure's face. He decided that he would do his best not to make his second grandchild cry. He had a secret plan. He remembered that the toys he played with as a child were stored away in the warehouse. He was convinced that since he had been obsessed with them, his grandchildren would be happy too. His wife had been ill for a long time and was bedridden. She had also lost her sight. So, although he couldn't show her the grandchildren's smiles, he wanted her to at least hear their laughter. However, what he made his wife hear was the sound of a mess of junk collapsing.
"What are you doing?" His wife, who should have been lying in the Japanese-style room, had gotten up. Her eyelids, which were always closed, were open. Her gaze was fixed on the broken vehicle Yugure had found.
"I thought I'd give the tricycle to the grandchild."
"That's why, that's just a unicycle now, isn't it?"
She laughed as she looked at the broken tricycle that Yugure had ridden around on almost every day during his boyhood. For the woman who was once called Yuyami, the long twilight of her life had come to an end.
"Let's go buy a new toy. You won the lottery the other day, didn't you?"
"But that money was for a trip around the world with you."
"From where to where is a world you can travel with 4,800 yen?"
"From the cradle to the grave."

"For now, come here."
"Are you going to check my handsome face?"
"I've been watching it in my dreams and behind my eyelids for so long, it's fine now."
Then the two hugged each other tightly and lived happily ever after.

(End)

(2004 characters)

The theme was "Twilight," but ever since I received the request, I have been listening to "Yugure" by T-Jiro s. It's a cover of The Blue Hearts. I've sprinkled in some other Blue Hearts references here and there as well.

While I wrote at the beginning that it is read as 'yugure' and not 'tagure', I read it as 'tagure' for most of the time while I was revising it. I'm sorry.

I came up with three ideas, and one was rejected. Another became too personal, so I judged that it was "not something to be written upon request" and uploaded it to my "Music Novel Collection." I would appreciate it if you could read it as "Reverse Yugure" as well.

It also became an opportunity for me to become conscious of the difference between "writing personally" and "writing for someone else." Pirika-san, thank you for your request.

Original draft from "Senninden"

The 128th: Yugure

It is read as 'Yugure', not 'Tagure'. Yugure would go delinquent in the evening. He would turn to misconduct and become ill-behaved. To give specific examples, he would run toward the airfield instead of heading to cram school, or ride a tricycle that was no longer functional.

Teachers were bewildered by Yugure, who was an honor student in the morning and afternoon but would only go delinquent in the evening. His parents were not concerned because he would return by dinnertime. There were also members of the opposite sex who only knew the evening version of Yugure. From inside the bus, they would watch Yugure heading toward the airfield with a sharp gaze, riding a broken tricycle at the same time of day, while thinking, 'It would be faster not to ride the tricycle.'

In the evening of his life, as he approached old age, Yugure went completely delinquent. He frequented gambling dens, dabbled in drugs, and made women cry. To give specific examples, he went to the lottery ticket booth once a week, bought medicine at a drugstore because he developed hay fever, and made his first granddaughter cry by failing to soothe her properly.

Although Yugure became quiet after the twilight of his life had passed, he still went delinquent only in the evening. Even in his final years, he continued to head toward the airfield on his broken tricycle. Seeing the tricycle with two wheels missing, his wife said, 'At this point, that's just a unicycle.'
(End)