COTE : Parasite in Love.

Chapter 7 : This Wormy World

Ayanokouji put on gloves, leaned back deep in his work chair, and opened a magazine.

As one might expect, it was a science magazine concerning parasites. The cover read “The Journal of Parasitology,” and the contents were all written in English. He was impressed. So she could read English as complex as this at her age.

Flipping through, he found a page with a tag on it. A paper by Norman R. Stoll, titled This Wormy World. He wasn’t sure how to translate it. Did it mean a worm-eaten world? Or a world that was like a worm? No, he couldn’t forget that this was a paper on parasitology. So then, perhaps “this world brimming with parasites” might be most correct.

The sound of showering from the bathroom ceased. About five minutes later, Hiyori appeared, changed into pajamas. Seeing her with a black towel on her head, Ayanokouji muttered a “huh” of some surprise.

“What is it?”, Hiyori asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing big… I just thought that with your silver hair covered like that, you looked like a normal girl.”

Hiyori’s eyes flickered, and she pointed to her head. “Oh, this? Sorry for being a non-normal girl.”

“I’m not saying your hair is bad or anything. It just felt fresh seeing how it would look black.”

“I figure you like girls with black hair, fair skin, polite and without any piercings anyway, Mr. Ayanokouji,” Hiyori said maliciously, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“I didn’t say anything like that.”

“Then how do you explain all that stuff on your computer?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Kidding. Just wanted to tease you.”

“You can’t make jokes that ominous.”

Ayanokouji sighed, leaning back.

Hiyori suddenly noticed what was in his hand, and her eyes widened. “Hey, that magazine’s…”

“Yeah.” He’d completely forgotten about the magazine until she pointed it out. “Sorry, I’m always just curious what you’re reading. Should I not have gone and touched it?”

“Not really, but… What did you think of it?”

“It was a little tough for me. Are you good at English, Hiyori?”

“Nah. I don’t get very good test scores.”

“But you can read academic papers?”

“Only in this one field. They all have similar composition, so I’ve gotten familiar with it.”

“That’s a big deal. I’d like to tell that to a slacker college student.” Then Ayanokouji aired the question he’d had earlier. “By the way, how do you translate this part?”

Hiyori stood up and came behind Ayanokouji, looking at the part he was pointing at over his shoulder. The sweet smell of shampoo tickled his nose. She was at a distance he’d normally back away from, but since she’d just showered, it was fine.

“You’re an adult and you don’t know something that simple?”, Hiyori said teasingly.

“Adults aren’t quite the fantastic creatures you think they are,” Ayanokouji retorted. “So what does it mean?”

“I think it was translated "this world full of insects” in a book I read once,“ Hiyori mused, as if searching her memory. "It was famously used in 1947 by Norman Stoll to describe the world as one where parasitic diseases run rampant.”