The towering city looked like a mountain holding up the night sky. The boat was carried by the tide into one of the canals that connected that mountain to the sea.
It was nearly midnight.
Akira tossed a rope over a post to the side of the canal to stop the boat from moving further. She urged Touko and the others to get off the boat before she did. Touko poked the sleeping Kun in the back to wake him up. Kanata and Temari jumped off the boat to shore, and Kaho clambered out of the boat. When Kaho got her footing, she offered Touko a hand. Touko took it and got back on land.
Akira carried Shouzou, who was taller than her, off the boat and tied a knot in the rope she’d wound around the post. After she verified that everyone and all the supplies they could carry were off the boat, she untied the rope and let the boat drift down the canal. She kicked at the boat with her sandaled feet to keep it moving.
“It will drift back out to sea on its own,” Akira said. “All right. We’re almost there. We’ve just got to hang in there a little longer.”
Akira encouraged Touko and the others to keep moving. Shouzou’s address was engraved on a metal tag that he wore on a chain around his neck. She put Shouzou’s right arm, still limp, over her shoulder and pulled him upright. With her support, Shouzou started walking.
Touko felt unsteady on her feet now that she was back on land. The straw sandals she’d received in the village that made glass were intact enough to protect her feet as she walked on the paved street. There were no lights on in any of the houses they passed, and Touko didn’t see many stars in the sky overhead.
We’re here. This is the capital!
Tall streetlamps were lit at irregular intervals along their path. They were elevated by poles made of metal. Touko thought they looked cold and dead even though they shed light on her surroundings. The street was deserted; she saw no one but herself and her friends at this hour.
Touko’s stomach was empty, her throat was dry, and fatigue blurred her vision. Kun slept soundly, carried on her back. Kanata sniffed the ground with great interest. It was hard to believe that they were finally here, in the capital, together. They’d made their way here through the trackless wilderness.
A large rat ran by and scuttled into the darkness. Kaho gasped softly in surprise. She swallowed, shuddered a little, then kept moving.
Akira was exhausted. Supporting Shouzou seemed to wear her out even more. Touko’s legs felt numb; she scolded them internally in an attempt to make them work better. She fixed her eyes on Akira’s back and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. She wished she could help even though she was in no condition to help anyone at the moment.
As they walked along the side of the canal, Touko noticed that the paved road was getting steeper. The capital city that looked like a mountain was built on a hill. The sound of water flowing echoed from the canal—and others, Touko realized. There were canals all over the place. There must be a lot more that she couldn’t see.
When they reached a bridge over another canal, Akira stopped and looked up. “Hey. I think this is it.”
They stood next to a house made of wood and plaster. Like the other houses, there were no lights on inside. Akira knocked on the door.
A moment later, a light came on.
Touko didn’t remember a lot of details after that, only the sequence in which things happened.
An elderly couple with wary faces opened the door. There was a shriek, and then they were all ushered inside. The elderly couple were Shouzou’s parents. Hot tea was brought out from the kitchen. Akira went outside and found someone who agreed to go fetch an unlicensed doctor. The doctor, when fetched, proved to be a exhausted-looking man with a grumpy frown. The doctor and Akira tended to Shouzou’s wounds, and Shouzou lay on a bed, sleeping or unconscious for the whole thing.
Shouzou’s mother was a tiny woman. Touko had heard that she was ill, and she did look somewhat ill and pale. She still did her utmost to help treat Shouzou’s injuries: she boiled water, prepared bandages, and assisted Akira and the doctor.
“Here, take this,” Shouzou’s mother said, passing a tray around.
The drink offered was not tea this time. It tasted of salt and eggs. In Touko’s village, eggs were only eaten on special occasions. Kaho sat next to her, drinking the same thing. Kun was fast asleep next to Touko, a blanket draped over his shoulders. The house was unfamiliar to Touko, and her head felt fuzzy.
Touko felt lost and unable to think straight. Temari paced restlessly in front of the closed door leading to Shouzou’s sickroom. Akira was still in there.
“Why did she ask to go get an unlicensed doctor?” Shouzou’s father asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Shouzou’s mother said. “The young woman is a wandering Fire Hunter.” Her tone was soothing, like she wanted to calm her husband down.
Shouzou’s father had a sour expression on his face, as if he’d just sucked on a lemon. His wife’s attempts did nothing to change his mood.
Kaho rested her head on Touko’s shoulder. She was asleep. Touko was warm and sleepy herself, since she’d eaten a warm meal and was safe indoors for the first time in a long time. Kanata licked Touko’s hand gently. Touko wanted to pet him, but she was so tired that she couldn’t even lift her arms.
Shouzou’s mother draped a woolen shawl over Kaho’s shoulders. She brought out another shawl for Touko. Touko’s eyes slipped shut.
Miss Akira is injured. She should rest too. I’m glad we found Shouzou’s house. I hope he gets better. Thank you, God of the Sea.
Touko had written her wish on blessed paper that had caught the attention of an actual god. With Hakaisana’s help, Shouzou would surely heal. After that, she could go and find Kanata’s family.
Touko’s mind raced even as her body slipped deeper into exhaustion. Before she could think anymore, she leaned against Kaho and fell asleep.
***
Touko awoke some time later. Kaho wasn’t next to her anymore, but Kun was still asleep nearby.
“Thanks. I’ll pay for all medical expenses.” Shouzou’s father bowed his head.
The doctor that Akira had fetched looked uncomfortable, like he’d outstayed his welcome.
The door in front of Touko was open. Bright sunshine spilled in through the window. Touko saw the doctor sitting in the room in front of her, scratching the back of his neck and looking down as he talked with Shouzou’s parents.
“I was woken up in the middle of the night and it was a terrible shock,” Shouzou’s father said. “How did this even happen? Wasn’t my son working on one of the black carts? How did he get back here in such a state? What happened to the black cart’s crew? Has the black cart returned to the capital?” He sounded agitated, but kept his voice down and his expression blank. “And I thought you were just a pharmacist,” he said to the doctor. “Since when do you work as a doctor? What’s going to happen to my son? Will he recover?”
“I don’t know yet,” the doctor said. “I got here just in time. If we’d waited much longer, the necrosis would’ve set in and he would’ve lost the arm. He’s lost a lot of muscle mass. Even if the arm heals, he probably won’t be able to lift it above his shoulder. He’s blind in his left eye, and he’s lost a lot of blood. All I can do is give him medicine to support his healing. The rest is up to him.”
Shouzou’s mother was listening to all this, sitting in a chair next to her husband. She sighed and covered her face with her wrinkled hands.
“The Fire Hunter told me to allow her to pay,” the doctor said. “I’m heading home now, I think. I need to eat something before I open the pharmacy.”
And so, with weary steps, the doctor headed towards the front door of the house. As the doctor approached, Touko realized that she was sitting on a blanket in the hallway. She hadn’t made it into one of the house’s rooms. She folded her legs in so that she wouldn’t trip the doctor as he passed. Kanata quickly came to her side.
“Thank you, doctor.” Akira came out of the back room. She was still dressed as she had been on the boat, sans armor. She was sweating; she’d been helping with Shouzou’s treatment all night. Her arm was wrapped in a white bandage.
“I’ll collect payment later,” the doctor said on the way out. “Take care of yourselves.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Akira said. She smiled, though her face was haggard from lack of sleep.
The front door opened and the doctor stepped out onto the street. His footsteps faded away.
Akira looked over at Touko. “Oh, you’re awake. He was an unlicensed doc who treats wandering Fire Hunters in the capital—most other doctors won’t. I heard about him from some friends of mine. I didn’t tell him everything yet—it’s going to be hard to explain what happened to the black carts that were supposed to bring you all here. Looks like you cut your hand a bit, too—maybe we can have him examine you later.”
Akira came into the hallway to take a closer look at Touko’s injury, but her foot missed the floor and she pitched head-first to the ground.
Touko stood up and rushed over to Akira. Shouzou’s parents had heard the fall and were coming over as well.
Touko bent over Akira and called out to her, but Akira didn’t move. Her eyes were closed.
Temari barked shrilly, sniffing urgently at Akira and wandering around her in a panicked circle.
Kaho came out of one of the interior rooms—the room where Shouzou was resting. “Miss Akira?” she asked. “Miss Akira!”
Akira still didn’t move.
Shouzou’s mother clicked her tongue. “The poor girl’s exhausted. Let’s get her in a bed so she can rest properly.”
Shouzou’s father lifted Akira on one side while his mother supported her on the other side. Together, they moved Akira into a bedroom. Temari followed fast on their heels.
Morning light streamed through the entryway window. Was the glass window she saw made in the glass-making village that she’d passed through on her way here? The light was so bright that she could scarcely see anything outside.
“Kaho… what should we do?” Touko asked.
Kaho reached out and took Touko’s hand. She seemed unusually calm, for the circumstances. “We’re okay,” she said. “We’re all going to be okay. Shouzou said he’d deliver the tags of the dead crew to their families. Akira’s going to try to find the Millennium Comet. And you two still have things to do in the city.”
Things to do…
That was right. Touko had been sent out of her village for a reason. She needed to deliver the Fire Hunter’s sickle, his Protector Stone, and Kanata to his family.
Before she did anything else, Touko went to check on Shouzou with Kaho. Bandages wrapped around the injured half of Shouzou’s face and his entire left shoulder. He lay there on a bed, still and pale with his cheeks and eyes sunken in. He was so quiet and unmoving that Touko wondered if he was really still alive.
Touko looked close and noticed the rise and fall of Shouzou’s chest. He was still breathing.
Around his bed were bloodstained bandages and washcloths that had yet to be cleaned. Shouzou’s old work clothes were among the bloody bandages.
“We have to throw them away. And our clothes too…” Kaho brought the sleeves of her over-shirt close to her face. They’d survived a violent attack and traveled through the Black Forest with the Tree People and Akira; they’d also lived through another attack that left them covered with gore. It was an understatement to say that their clothes were now unusable.
Their clothes also smelled terrible, though Touko hadn’t noticed until right this moment. “We stink.”
“Yeah, we do,” Kaho said.
Kaho laughed. Tears coursed down her bruised cheeks even though she was smiling. Touko started crying, too; Kaho hugged her and they clung to each other and cried. Kun stayed fast asleep, and Kanata sat still, watching over everyone.
***
Shouzou’s mother brought out clothes for Touko and Kaho. The outfits were embroidered with white thread. “We have these, but they’re old. Please try them on.” She looked to Kun. “I wonder if this will be okay for that little guy over there?” She lifted a small off-white one-piece garment up and frowned at it. It was a capital-style garment with unfamiliar tailoring.
After a moment’s consideration, Shouzou’s mother passed Touko a plum-colored outfit and Kaho a light blue one.
“This is kind of fun. I don’t have a daughter, so this is the first time I’ve picked out clothes for girls like this. I’ll wash what you’re wearing. I think if I can get your clothes clean and mended, you might be able to wear them again.”
Touko gave her a blank, disbelieving look, and she chuckled.
Touko exchanged a brief glance with Kaho, then turned back to Shouzou’s mother. “Miss, you’ve been working very hard… shouldn’t you get some rest?” She hadn’t gotten to sleep the previous night because of Shouzou being injured and everyone else needing food, water and blankets. She’d helped the doctor with his treatment and had put Akira to bed with her husband. After that, she’d helped her husband get ready for work, and now she was picking out clothes for Touko, Kaho and Kun.
Shouzou’s mother combed out her hair, which was mostly gray, and led Touko and the others to the bathroom to change. “Don’t be ridiculous, girl; I’m just fine. Got a touch of tuberculosis, I do, but that’s quite common in the factories. It won’t kill me; certainly not today, and by the time it does you’ll be all grown up. I’m a mother, and must take care of my son; it doesn’t matter if he’s all grown up and able to support himself now or not.”
They’d reached the bathroom. Shouzou’s mother pointed out a bucket of water, a standing shower and towels. “We don’t have a proper bath in here, so you’ll have to go to a bath-house when they open. For now, you can get cleaned up in here. You all might want to stay out of the public eye, at least for a little while longer.”
Neither Touko nor Kaho had ever seen a standing shower before, so Shouzou’s mother demonstrated turning the taps. Water came out, astounding the girls. They removed their soiled clothes and washed themselves under the flowing water. After, they dried off with the towels and dressed. The capital-style clothes were made of surprisingly light fabric. Touko felt a bit chilly and uncomfortable in them after the shower. She put on new shoes and went out of the bathroom. In the capital, people wore shoes in the house, unlike in the villages. Both Touko and Kaho were surprised by this.
“It’s almost dinnertime,” Shouzou’s mother said. “We’ll fetch something from one of the communal kitchens. Can you help get the little boy cleaned up? He’s been sleeping like a log since yesterday. Go out this door and straight down the hallway, and you’ll find him.”
Shouzou’s mother pointed down the hallway. Kaho gave her a silent nod. Touko had decided to give Kanata a bath while she and Touko were washing, so he was still a little wet. Touko didn’t know of any streams or canals nearby that would be suitable for bathing. The place where Akira had moored the boat was probably too deep.
“Kanata, wait.”
Kanata barked and ran off as Touko tried to untangle his dirty fur. He turned off the tap with his paws, then turned it back on and drank from it as if it were a water fountain.
There was something strange about the inside of this house. The material of the walls suddenly changed from wood to tin, without any rhyme or reason for the change. The corridors were patched together and made of different materials. Rooms right next to one another might look completely different on the inside. Beyond the windows was the wall of a neighboring house, so close that it seemed like Touko could reach out and touch it. Touko wondered if all the houses in the capital were like this one.
“Where’s the boat?” Kun asked. He sounded tired. He walked down the hallway toward Touko.
“Kun! Did you sleep well?” Touko asked, crouching down to his level.
Kun took in Touko and Kaho’s unfamiliar clothes and his equally unfamiliar surroundings. His stomach growled. He hunched in on himself warily. They’d gotten here last night and Kun had been asleep for a long time, so it was no wonder he was hungry. He didn’t say anything.
A little while later, Shouzou’s mother brought them all food. Kun wrinkled his nose and barked like a dog as she approached.
“I’m sorry we all have to eat like this,” Shouzou’s mother said, “but the dining room has windows. Anyone could see inside.”
Kun was reluctant to remove his fur over-shirt. He gave Kaho and Touko a hard time when they tried to get it off. Smelling the food calmed him quite a bit, though. They managed to get him more or less washed and changed for dinner. He wore a thin shirt and short pants similar to Touko’s own, and looked like any other little boy she’d ever seen. Nothing about him indicated that he was a Spider, at least outwardly.
“This alone may not be enough to fill you up… I did go out earlier to get you all a little extra.” Shouzou’s mother placed a box in front of Kun. She removed the dish towel that covered it, revealing rice balls, soup, and stewed root vegetables in a metal bowl. There was barely enough inside the bowl to feed two people. It seemed that Shouzou’s family didn’t cook inside the home, like people in Touko’s village did. Or maybe they just didn’t have enough fire fuel because they’d used too much in the night.
Touko dug into her meal, full of questions about the capital and how people lived here.
Touko and the others looked around curiously as they ate. Shouzou’s mother smiled, amused. “This is a bit of an odd-looking place, isn’t it? There was a large fire in the capital long ago. It started in the industrial area, where the factories are, and it burned down more than half the city. We’re by the sea, so we were spared the worst of the damage. But this building hasn’t been renovated since the capital was founded—every time it needs a repair, someone else puts a patch over it. That’s why there’s wood there and metal there.” She nodded to herself. “Now, then… I wonder if the other two will be able to eat.”
Her smile faded away when she faced Shouzou’s room. She went inside, leaving Touko and the others behind.
Touko tried to go after her, but Kaho caught her shoulder and shook her head. “We’re supposed to eat,” she said. “Let’s do what we’re told and not cause any trouble.” She tugged at Touko’s sleeve and wouldn’t let go until Touko sat down again. Kanata watched Touko’s hands intently as she ate her food.
“When we saw the Fire Fiend’s fur, we knew Kun was a Spider. But we didn’t chase him away. Shouzou would probably be furious with us if he was well enough, but his family’s been nothing but nice to us. Let’s do our best here,” Kaho said.
“Yeah,” Touko answered, unenthused.
Touko used the chopsticks that were attached to the box to grab some bits floating in the soup that Kun had missed. Kaho chewed her meal slowly. She was much more adept at using chopsticks than Touko was, and managed to clean the box of everything the others had missed.
“I’m going to get better. I’m going to be able to work. I’m going to look after Shouzou and Akira until they heal,” Kaho said firmly, straightening her back.
“Good,” Touko said, nodding. She gathered up some scraps from their meal and offered them to Kanata. Kanata gulped down the food with relish. Touko remembered when Benio and Hotaru had fed him on the black cart. The Protector Stone from the Fire Hunter who had saved her was still in her bag, as was the barrette that Rin had stolen from her. A whole lifetime of experience lay between Touko and the person she was when she’d first left her village.
Grandma, aunt, cousin Rin, I’m finally in the capital. It was a hard journey, but I’m going to find the Fire Hunter’s family, Touko thought.
Kanata wagged a happy tail at her and looked into her eyes, as if he thought she’d give him more food.
***
Akira lay resting in another room of the house, just around the corner from the main hallway. There were two beds pushed together along one wall; Akira was asleep on one with her back to the wall. Temari sat at her feet. When Touko and Kanata came in, Temari raised her head and stared.
Touko offered Temari a bit of the rice ball she had brought with her. Temari looked at the food and Touko with a quizzical expression, but she accepted the food.
“Miss Akira,” Touko said.
Akira didn’t wake. Her curly red hair spread over a pillow. The room was dimly lit and the curtain was drawn over the window. Touko thought Akira looked feverish. She was sweating under the covers. Touko touched Akira’s forehead and confirmed her guess.
Would the doctor from yesterday be able to give Akira some medicine? Shouzou’s father had called the doctor a pharmacist. “We need more medicine…”
Touko looked over at Temari.
“Temari, I’m going to go find Kanata’s family. I’m going out into the city, so I’ll get some medicine for Miss Akira while I’m out, okay?”
Temari gave her a snort snort and turned back to her master. She curled up at Akira’s side and closed her eyes.
Touko wrapped up the Fire Hunter’s sickle and slung her bag over her shoulder. She petted Kanata’s neck and head, then bowed to Akira.
“I’m off,” she said.
Akira, of course, didn’t respond.
***
Touko told Shouzou’s mother why she’d come to the capital and said that she wanted to find Kanata’s family. She mentioned that she wanted to pick up some medicine for Akira, too. Shouzou’s mother drew a map for Touko on grayish, roughened paper. Touko had never seen paper like it before and wondered how it was made. It certainly wasn’t made from the paper mulberry trees that her village used.
“As soon as you leave the house, you’ll come to the canal. Cross the bridge and turn onto the road in front of you. Cross another canal and go down six blocks… It’s a bit chaotic around there, but there are signs, so I think you’ll find it easily enough,” Shouzou’s mother said.
“Thank you!”
Shouzou’s mother gave Touko the map. It included pictures of all the signs she would see and what they meant. She also passed Touko some money for medicine. Touko bowed her head in thanks.
Kaho was in the bathroom with Kun, helping him wash the dirty bucket and bloody clothes. Touko paused to say goodbye to Shouzou’s mother, then left the house with Kanata next to her.
The sky was cloudy. There was no sign of rain, but Touko still wondered if it would. Did it rain in the capital? She had no idea.
While working in her village’s fields, Touko had imagined what the capital city would be like. She’d thought it would be a place with buildings so tall that she’d have to crane her neck to look up. She’d thought that every window would have a window box with flowers, and that there would be trees everywhere carrying sweet scents of fruit and flowers. She’d thought that the people of the capital were rich: rich enough to afford sweets every day and eat them on the crowded streets.
Touko’s imagination didn’t really match her reality. The houses were larger than the ones in her village, but they weren’t particularly tall, and they were all crowded together; no one really had a yard. She caught sight of rats that were bigger than she’d ever seen darting between the houses and other buildings. There were a lot of crows. A few perched on every roof she passed. If she told her family and neighbors about the capital as it was, she wondered if they’d be disappointed.
“Kanata. I’ll go get medicine first,” Touko said. Now that the time had come to return him to his family, she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to. But this was the whole reason she’d come to the capital: to return the sickle, the Protector Stone… and the dog.
They crossed over the first bridge on the map. Unlike the wooden bridge in her village, this one was made of stone. Kanata seemed to sense Touko’s anxiety and walked close to her.
Even though it was daytime, there were hardly any people around. She passed the occasional person and heard a mother scold a child, though she couldn’t see the mother or the child; they were behind a building. The streets were narrow, sandwiched between closely packed-together buildings. Wooden boxes and luggage lined the street outside some kind of store.
Six blocks down. Touko remembered Shouzou’s mother’s instructions. She made her way through the clutter of side streets with no clear end in sight.
Touko and Kanata crossed over another bridge. As they reached the other side, Touko caught sight of a set of stone steps leading down to the canal beneath the bridge. When she was seven years old, Touko had gone down to the river in her village in midwinter to watch the bark that had been set into the water to clean off all the impurities. The thin bark of the paper mulberry tree was torn into thin strips, which were tied together and then staked to the shore so that the bark couldn’t float away.
The river was blisteringly cold in midwinter. She didn’t know why she did it. She lifted the hem of her kimono and waded barefoot into the river. Touko kept going until she was hip-deep and looked at the white side of the bark in the river—whiter than the snow all around her.
There was no one around. If there had been, they would have stopped her. Touko went into shock from cold, unable to move. The river wasn’t very deep—an adult would only be in up to their shins at the deepest point. Touko was in freezing water past her knees, and her clothes were soaked. She started to cry, her legs frozen and numb.
Snow fell on Touko’s undefended head. There was no one anywhere to help.
Touko returned to the present moment when she noticed one of the signs that Shouzou’s mother had drawn for her. “Ah! The doctor’s over here,” she said to Kanata, pointing at the sign.
“Kanata, you know, once I thought I would die all alone. I went into the river in winter. But mom and dad found me and pulled me out.”
Hearing her cries, her parents had dragged Touko out of the water in a panic. They’d lost no time in scolding her for her behavior. She’d been so scared that she’d peed herself while still in the water. “What if you ruined the blessed paper that will be made from that bark?!” her father had thundered at her. She’d never seen her father so angry in her life. Her mother asked her why she’d done such a thing, but she’d never managed to give her mother a satisfactory answer.
“I’m sure you’ve been scared like that, too, haven’t you, Kanata? But you’re not alone. I’m sure your family is waiting for you to come back.” Touko wanted to say more, but the words died in her throat.
She reached the sign outside the pharmacist’s office and opened the sliding door.
“Oh, it’s the kid from yesterday,” the pharmacist said. He was sitting at a desk. “Need something?”
The pharmacist was in a proper uniform and wearing glasses, which made him look more official. He suppressed a yawn behind his hand. The narrow shop was packed with medicine bottles that lined every wall. The pharmacist had a desk and chair at the back of the shop, where he was sitting now.
“Um… Miss Akira has a fever. Is there anything you could give her?” Touko asked. She bowed her head.
The pharmacist’s chair creaked as he stood up. He ran his finger over the labels of each of the bottles on the shelf nearest him and said, “I can imagine. What a mess this all is. A girl like that, hunting Fire Fiends with a dog that small and weak. I’m shocked she’s not dead already. She must be as strong as a horse. Don’t look so concerned, girl. I’ll give her some antipyretics and she’ll be fine in no time.”
With that, the pharmacist who had a secret identity as an unlicensed doctor gave her medicine for Akira and another medicine for Shouzou. Touko wasn’t sure if the money she had would be enough, but he didn’t tell her to pay more. Thanking him, Touko took the paper bag full of medicine and retraced her steps.
Touko decided to head back to Shouzou’s house, but Kanata had other plans. He bounded down one of the streets that Touko had been told to pass by and didn’t look back.
“Kanata?”
Touko hastily changed direction. Up until now, Kanata had walked next to her. Perhaps he had found a rat, but she didn’t think so. He’d be sniffing the street if he was hunting for game. He paused to look back at Touko, then kept walking ahead. His steps were steady as he walked through the narrow, winding alleys. He knew where he was going.
“Ah!” Touko gasped. Some strange and unfamiliar emotion bubbled up in her stomach, threatening to emerge. Kanata turned around and gave her a small nod, and Touko followed the dog down the street. We found it, Kanata. Your house is over there. Your family.
Touko walked faster. Her shoes felt funny on the paved street, so she couldn’t go as fast as she really wanted. Kanata wagged his gray tail, bounding from step to step. Kanata’s excitement was infectious. Even though he’d protected Touko for a very long time, she was happy for him.
Suddenly, Kanata turned left down a narrow street, then left again. There was an old woman sitting in a chair outside her house. Next to her sat a refuse bucket full of food scraps. Touko caught a strong whiff of urine, covered by the stronger smell of burning cooking oil.
Touko… was lost. She wouldn’t be able to get back to Shouzou’s house by herself. She dug her nails into her palms so that she wouldn’t think about that. Kanata looked back several times to make sure she was following. Touko nodded at him each time. She would be happy to see Kanata reunited with his family.
What would she say to them? Would they yell at her? Would they cry? Touko didn’t know, and there was nothing she could do to change things. The family had still lost the Fire Hunter—the man who had saved her. He was never coming back.
The street sloped upward. Kanata continued down the winding alleyways until they came to another canal.
Kanata rested his paws on the bridge and looked back. Touko nodded again. He looked confused. He could sense that she was upset, but not why.
Soon, they would be separated. Touko couldn’t believe it. It seemed like they’d been together forever.
After crossing the canal, they came out onto a road that was slightly wider than before. They left the tangled and winding alleys and could see a little better.
Kanata started running. Touko ran after him.
Kanata stopped in front of a house and let out a bark. Out of breath, Touko caught up with Kanata. Together, they went closer to the house.
Kanata’s family lived in an old wooden house. The second-floor windows were fitted with corrugated iron. The door facing the street was thin, made of wood and had no decoration. Sandwiched on either side by two similarly built houses, the house looked quite cramped.
“Kanata… is this the place?”
Kanata’s tail stopped wagging. There was no sign of anyone in the house. Touko didn’t see any lights or people and wondered if some of these houses were abandoned. Several houses nearby had collapsed walls.
There was a sign posted on the wooden door, but Touko didn’t know what it meant. Kanata was unlikely to mistake his own house… but there wasn’t anyone here. Kanata cocked an ear toward the house, listening. Then he growled.
Touko briefly tried to calm Kanata before she realized that he was growling at someone behind her.
“Whose child is that? Who does that dog belong to?” The voice came from high up, and Touko spun fast in surprise. The speaker was a big man who towered over her. His black clothes were tailored to fit, and he had a club hanging from a belt around his waist.
Kanata barked loudly, then pushed Touko’s feet with his nose. He was telling her to run.
So Touko ran, and Kanata ran ahead of her. “Ah, wait, Kanata! You’re going too fast!”
The big man let out a yell as he chased after them.
Touko’s feet hurt after a dozen steps, but she kept running. She couldn’t run like Kanata, fast and free. What would happen if the big man caught her? Would he hit her with his club? She couldn’t let herself or Kanata be hurt.
She ran frantically, ignoring her aching feet, aiming for Kanata as he sprinted away and put distance between them. The light of determination burned in her eyes. Was that light brighter than the Millennium Comet? Akira had said it was a light in the sky and would soon return.
Finally, Touko put her hands on her knees and stopped. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. Sweat poured out of her. When she stopped running, Kanata nudged her.
“K-Kanata…” Now that she’d stopped, she felt confused and dizzy. Kanata had slowed down, which had caused Touko to stop. She realized that she was safe and didn’t need to run anymore. Her shoulders relaxed. Kanata panted with his tongue out, but he was smiling at her.
Breathing heavily, Touko raised her head. The big man in black was no longer chasing them.
“Kanata… where are we?”
There were lamps all around her burning in glass containers. There was a high wall before her and a large, ornate gate. The lamps were all lit even though it was daytime. The sky was overcast, so the line of lamps looked like a string of bright stars.
The wall in front of her had a shine to it and no visible joining lines for mortar. The road under her feet was pure white stone. She’d stopped running uphill at some point; the ground was level here. Touko checked to make sure she hadn’t dropped the sickle, the Protector Stone or the medicine in her flight. At the same time, she noticed that her shoes were practically worn through. She took a deep breath and bent her knees. Kanata leaned close to her, and she hugged him.
Why wasn’t Kanata’s family at his house? What had happened to them? She compared the sign to the ones that Shouzou’s mother had drawn for her and realized that the sign on the door was a “For Sale” sign. Had his family moved somewhere else? Or had they never been there at all?
“Are you lost?” a young woman called out.
Touko looked up. The young woman who’d spoken was older than her, dressed in capital-style clothing. She was beautiful, with thick, wavy hair and a high pointed nose. She looked like an elegant lady.
“What a fine dog,” the young woman said. “Is he yours, or did you find him?” The young woman genuinely seemed to like Kanata.
“No, no… well… I guess you could say this dog is lost, just like I am,” Touko said. she stood up straight.
The young woman took a clean handkerchief from the folds of her dress and offered it to Touko so that she could wipe off the sweat from her face. Touko was surprised that a stranger would treat her so kindly. She cried a little, hiding her face in her hands.
“What’s wrong?” the young woman asked. “Did something happen?”
Touko wiped her cheek with the handkerchief. “Um, I was being chased by a stranger. He had black clothes and was carrying a club. I got scared and ran.”
The girl smiled. “Oh, that was a policeman. He’s not a scary man. He catches bad people. There’s no need to be scared. You should eat a little something and cheer up.” She offered Touko a piece of candy in a transparent wrapping.
As Touko accepted the candy, she felt the young woman’s soft hands.
“What’s your name?” the young woman asked.
“Touko.”
The young woman crouched down, and their eyes met. “How do you write your name?”
Touko leaned down and wrote her name with her index finger on the clean white stone paving she was standing on.
“Touko. What a lovely name. My name is Kira.” As she said this, the young woman wrote her name in invisible letters in the air. Touko thought the letters that made up her name were complicated, but Kira’s name sounded pretty.
“Where do you want to go back to? I’ll show you the way… Although, I don’t know the city as well as I’d like. I can still try to help.”
“No, that’s okay. Kanata—that’s the dog—knows the way back, I think.”
“Kanata…?” The young woman opened her eyes wide. Then she tilted her head. Touko was entranced by how white her skin was. Her hands, too, were the same color as pure white snow.
“Miss Kira… have you ever been scared?” Touko asked without thinking. Kira was beautiful, but there was loneliness in her eyes. Touko felt like she was familiar somehow, even though they’d never met. She was glad to meet someone so nice in such a huge and unfamiliar place.
The young woman’s eyes widened in surprise at the question. She smoothed her dress, then smiled elegantly. “Oh yes, I have. A friend of mine got hurt once, and I didn’t know how. I was very scared and worried.”
Kira turned and looked the dog in the eyes. “Kanata, make sure you show Touko the way home.”
Kanata sniffed Kira intently. His ears perked up, and he licked Kira’s cheek. Kira laughed as if it tickled.
Touko was grateful to Kira for her kindness. She removed the extra Protector Stone from her bag—the one that didn’t belong to the Fire Hunter—and offered it to her. It was a light brown stone that her grandmother had given her before her journey. Touko looked at it in the palm of her hand before handing it to Kira. She meant it as a token of appreciation for Kira’s kindness, and for the candy she had received.
Touko saw the red barrette that her parents had bought from her inside her bag when she took out the Protector Stone.
“This is a Protector Stone that I got from my grandmother,” Touko said. “It’s not very pretty, but it has protected me during my long journey. Maybe it can help heal the injury of your friend.”
Kira’s eyes opened wide.
Touko’s heart pounded. She remembered her grandmother’s face, all covered with wrinkles. Her grandmother had touched her face for a long time as if she were trying to memorize it before she’d left the village.
“Are you sure you want to give me something so important?” Kira asked.
Touko didn’t answer. She took off running, and Kanata ran with her.
“Wait!” Kira called after them. “Where did you come from? Hey!”
Touko hadn’t been able to find Kanata’s family. She had to get back to Kira and Shouzou with the medicine in her bag. She ran downhill with Kanata.
When she was somewhat far away, Touko turned and bowed in Kira’s direction. Then she followed Kanata back to Shouzou’s home.
No comments:
Post a Comment