Digital Devil Story: Reincarnation of the Goddess Read Online Free PDF Page A

breath and summoning her will together, Yumiko slowly walked toward the school building.

    The first hour of the day was Classical Japanese class.
    The professor, Ohara, was quite a beauty. She wasn't wearing much in the way of makeup, probably due to work regulations, but her tall height, style, and face--which looked attractive even to the eyes of other women--was such so that she could probably easily make it as a model. But the dull, toneless voice in which she read the text, combined with the monotonous translate-classical-to-colloquial manner in which she conducted the class could hardly be said to be attractive, even as insincere flattery. Yumiko had been desperately suppressing yawns all class long.
    "In the Ise Monogatari , there is a tanka poem: 'In the Uzu Mountains of Suruga, I will not meet you in reality or in a dream.' In the past it has come up three times in Keio University's entrance exam, and also in Waseda University's exam, so you should memorize it..." Ignoring all cultural significance of the poem, Ohara started talking about entrance exams.
    So much for romance and mystique of the Ise Monogatari. Ariwara Narihira must be rolling over in his grave.
    Getting downright irritated by the class, and nearly on the brink of being overcome by drowsiness, Yumiko noticed a rythmical sound behind her, like that of a plastic sheet being tapped. Turning her head, she saw a handsome male student diagonally behind her to the right, typing on the keyboard of a handheld computer that sat atop his desk. She recalled his name as being Nakajima Akemi. Yumiko had been introduced to him along with all the other students the day before, but their names and faces had gotten all mixed up so she couldn't clearly remember everyone. But Nakajima's profile and name were both rather feminine, so his image had stuck in her head. Though he had completely ignored her when she had intially bowed her head in greeting.
    Well, he's pretty obviously ignoring class. He's got guts! For some reason, Yumiko felt some affinity for this particular classmate.
    It doesn't look like he's playing a game. Is he writing a program or something?
    As if taking a break, Nakajima stretched his back and looked up slightly. His almond eyes looked around, and unexpectedly his gaze met Yumiko's.

    After his successful test of the demon summoning program, it seemed as if Nakajima's nature had changed from the very roots. Or perhaps his true, formerly sealed-off demonic nature had been released and consumed the old Nakajama. Two months ago, his handsome face had only shown weakness, but now it emanated a powerful aura of pure ego. But what surprised Yumiko when their gaze met was not his powerful presence, but rather something else.
    Deja vu.
    I didn't realize it yesterday, but I think I've seen this guy somewhere before--like from a long time a go. Geez, I wonder why that is? A wave of emotion like awe coursed through Yumiko's body.
    Despite Yumiko's staring at him, Nakajima displayed no interest in her and returned to typing on his keyboard rythmically. As if staring into a deep ravine, Yumiko was struck with a strange sense of loss.
    "Ms. Shirasagi, what are you looking at?" Ohara's somewhat irritated voice pulled Yumiko back to reality. Looking up, she noticed the tanka poem written on the blackboard in white chalk had been annotated with red and yellow markings.
    "What does the 'utsutsu' in this tanka indicate? Explain." Yumiko felt the gaze of all the students in the class fall on her, as if testing her. The dull sound of Nakajima typing monotonously--and flagrantly--on the keyboard was the only sound in the room.
    "Yes, ma'am. It indicates the name of the place, Uzu, and the meaning of the word 'utsutsu' itself, which is 'reality.'" Yumiko's voice sounded slightly nervous. But Ohara's question was an extremely easy one, especially for someone like Yumiko, who was aiming to be a literary historian.
    "I see you've studied well, Ms. Shirasagi. But sometimes