“Ah, it’s no good, I feel sicker the longer I stay awake.” Shouzou rubbed his face and grumbled to himself. His voice was hoarse from many days of not speaking.
“You’ll be okay. You should eat. And try to move around, if you can,” Shouzou’s mother said.
Shouzou ate a spoonful of porridge and grimaced. “I’m not really hungry.”
The sky this morning was bright and clear, without a single cloud. The storm from the previous night had washed the world clean and bestowed this fine day as a parting present. Shouzou had awakened during the night. He couldn’t move his left hand, which remained dead weight at his side. While Touko had brought in hot water for him to drink, Kaho had asked him to marry her. He’d choked loudly, making Akira burst out laughing.
“There’s a rumor going around that the Spiders will be attacking the city soon. If you can’t move when the time comes, we’ll be in trouble.”
“I think I might be hungry, but I feel like if I eat, I’ll throw up,” Shouzou had said.
“Don’t get sick again now,” his mother had said. “No sense in wearing yourself out even more. And don’t talk about bodily functions in front of ladies.”
Shouzou had frowned sourly.
***
Touko stood in the doorway of Shouzou’s room, holding clothes that she’d just washed. She wasn’t sure if she should enter the room or not. Shouzou was in there with his mother, who’d taken the day off work to take care of him. Shouzou’s father had gone to work as usual earlier in the morning, but he’d sat up with Shouzou all night to assist with his son’s recovery.
“Hey, kid.” Shouzou waved to Touko with his good arm, though he couldn’t lift it up very far. “You need something?”
Touko nodded, then responded to Shouzou’s greeting. She tiptoed into the room, not looking at anyone or anything. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the tepid, unpleasant smell of convalescence that had wafted through the house since Shouzou’s arrival was starting to fade.
Shouzou leaned back on his pillows and sighed. “So, we made it. I’m glad. I didn’t want to die in a shitty place like that.” His voice was weak, but he spoke the same way he always had: casually, carelessly. Touko had missed that.
“I’m sorry. If I had been more careful, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt so badly.”
Touko felt a hand on her back—her aunt’s hand. But, no: it was just Shouzou’s mother. She was obviously homesick to mistake Shouzou’s mother for her stern aunt for even a moment. The only thing that Shouzou’s mother and her aunt had in common was that their hands were workers’ hands: calloused and strong.
“Are you blaming yourself?” Shouzou’s mother asked “Don’t. You all made it to the capital safely. That’s all that matters. Yes, my son is hurt…” She trailed off, looking at Shouzou for a long moment. “But I’m proud of him for trying to fight and protect you all.” There was pain in her tone, but the pride was there, too.
Shouzou smiled a little and ducked his head.
Koushi had said something similar to Touko, that he was glad his father was able to save someone. Was that really true? Touko wouldn’t weigh her life against the Fire Hunter’s who’d saved her. She thought it might be better for the world if a hero like that was still alive, and not her.
Kanata, are you living in that big house with Koushi? Do you have a lot of food?
After taking the laundry from Touko, Shouzou’s mother urged her to get something to eat. Touko nodded uncertainly and looked at Shouzou, who was reclining in bed.
In the next room, sitting on the floor by the wall, Akira, Kaho, and Kun were eating. Akira usually wore men’s city-style clothing, but now she was wearing a Fire Hunter uniform.
“Are you going out again, Akira?” Touko asked.
“Yeah. I’ll go after I eat.”
Kaho frowned, looking unsatisfied. Kun sat next to her, his head bowed. One of his shoulders brushed Kaho’s side.
“You don’t have to go hunting anymore, right?” Koushi had given them a bottle of lightning fuel. Selling it had given them enough money to pay for Shouzou’s medicine and then some. Akira didn’t have to postpone her errand to the Guardian Gods’ shrine any longer.
“Yeah, but I was a bit worried about the rumors the townspeople were telling me. I wanted to check something before I go to the shrine. I won’t be long, though, so don’t worry.” She draped a cloak on over her uniform, then headed for the front door. Temari followed close at her heels. She stooped to pick up the dog and place her in a basket.
A hush fell over the house.
“Touko, you should eat dinner,” Kaho said, pointing to a chair in the corner of the hallway. Touko nodded and picked up some dumplings stuffed with chopped vegetable leaves from the pile of food on the chair and sat down on the floor to eat. What was Kanata eating? Was he eating and sleeping with Koushi and his little sister now?
Hinako. That was Koushi’s little sister’s name..
Kanata wasn’t here anymore. She kept expecting to see him wherever she went, but it was no surprise when he failed to show. She’d returned him to his family, but she still had the Fire Hunter’s sickle and the Protector Stone. The sickle lay wrapped in paper near the entryway. The Protector Stone was right next to it.
Kun stared straight ahead, chewing listlessly. There was no life in his eyes. He looked just like when they’d first found him in the Black Forest, injured and close to death.
Touko wondered if Kun had seen the Guardian God through the eyes of the messenger insect he’d sent to follow Akira.
Kaho sighed, then mopped up the bits of dumpling that Kun hadn’t eaten with a piece of crust and ate them. “I wish I could help more,” she said. “The capital might be in danger. I’m not like Akira—I can’t fight. It feels like I can’t do anything, sometimes.”
“That’s not true,” Touko said. “You’ve been helping all this time.”
Kaho had taken care of Shouzou during his long recovery. She’d also taken charge of the household chores, looked after Kun when Akira was away, and just generally volunteered to assist Shouzou’s mother with everything. She did well at everything she helped with, too. Touko found it hard to believe that Kaho’s village would ever want to eject a competent and diligent worker like Kaho..
“I feel like I don’t or can’t help sometimes, too,” Touko said. “Shouzou has needed a lot of help—he couldn’t even eat for himself for a long time. You helped him get better. I didn’t do nearly as much, and it’s my fault that he got hurt.” She looked down at her hands, her voice getting quieter and quieter as she spoke.
Kaho chuckled. “Well, thanks for that. I know that it’s all right for me to stay here. Shouzou’s family has welcomed me with open arms. I appreciate that.”
It was true: Kaho really did seem at home here. Touko wanted to weep in admiration: Kaho, against all odds, had found a place to belong.
Come to think of it, Kaho hadn’t taken a single step outside the house since they’d arrived. She hadn’t even gone out to get some air. The air in the capital was mixed with factory smoke and dust, giving it an unfamiliar smell, but the repeated rainstorms should have purified it somewhat.
“Kaho, why don’t you go outside for a bit? If you stay cooped up all the time, you’ll feel bad, right?”
Kaho shook her head, unconcerned. “No, I’m fine. I’ve worked in the mines since I was a little child, so I feel more comfortable in a place with a roof and walls.”
Touko shrugged, then continued eating in silence. Kun plopped down next to her and continued eating himself, but he didn’t say a single word.
***
That night, the cranky Kun and Kaho fell asleep at around the same time. They lay stretched out on blankets placed over the wooden floor. Touko tiptoed in and saw them resting. She sighed in relief.
Kun had spent the day restless and distant. Asleep now, he groaned and thrashed his arms and legs. He was having a nightmare. Touko tried to calm him down, but this didn’t work.
Suddenly, Kaho was awake and pressing down Kun’s shoulders gently but firmly. Eventually, he settled down, and Touko and Kaho returned to their blankets to sleep.
Dim lighting filtered in through a gap in the partially closed door of the back room. Shouzou and his father had just returned from work and were speaking in hushed voices. They talked about the black cart, the dragon attack, the Spiders, and all the strange events that happened on the journey to the capital. Touko, half-awake, caught the trend of the conversation and remembered many of those same events. She tossed and turned in a fitful doze.
Touko felt a light poke to her back where a blanket was wrapped around her. She turned around to see Akira behind her, propping her body up on her elbows. “Touko. I could tell you weren’t sleeping well. Want to go upstairs, where it’s quieter?” she whispered.
When Touko nodded, Akira bent to pick up Temari. She walked barefoot over the floor and left the room silently. Touko followed Akira and headed down the hall.
In the hallway, Akira climbed up on the chair they used to store food and clothes. Stretching out one arm, she pressed at a ceiling tile and pushed it out of the way. Touko hadn’t even noticed the existence of such a thing until now. It seemed to be an entrance to the attic. Akira pointed with her thumb, and then, still holding Temari in one arm, she gained momentum and jumped up from the chair. She put her hands on the edge of the square hole and deftly lifted herself up. When the darkness of the attic hid her toes, Akira’s upside-down face and swaying hair appeared. She lowered a hand down to Touko.
“Come on. You can see the stars from here,” Akira said.
Touko climbed onto the chair and stood up straight on her tiptoes. She was just barely able to grab Akira’s hand. Akira pulled Touko up, then removed an egg-shaped lantern from a small pouch at her waist. She lit the lantern, illuminating the attic. There was a strange skittering noise, and then Akira walked further into the attic. She didn’t seem to mind that she was getting covered in dust.
Akira waited for Touko to come over to her, then lay down on her back. Her lantern glowed faintly in the dark. Touko lay down next to Akira awkwardly and looked up. There was a skylight above them with a clear glass window. Touko had no idea how Akira would know this skylight was even there. Did she go around the city by jumping from rooftop to rooftop?
There were a few trunks and piles of supplies up here, though the entrance was so small that it limited what could be brought inside this space. The dust over everything told Touko that nothing up here had been moved for a very long time.
“I think you should make a wish, Touko,” Akira said, her eyes on the sky.
“What?”
Akira glanced over at Touko, smiling faintly. “The blessed paper was yours to start with, and your handwriting is better than mine. I was just thinking that if I were to submit a petition or a letter to the Guardian Gods, it would be best to make that letter as good as I can.”
Touko slowly shook her head. She remembered the Guardian God peering down at her from the top of the old tree and shuddered internally. The Tree People were imprisoned inside that old tree, along with all of the Guardian Gods’ failed experiments. The factories in the capital were like otherworldly things—like they’d come from a completely different time and place.
Besides the Guardian God that Touko had seen, how many others were in the capital? How many were there in general? She couldn’t possibly write a letter to a Guardian God like the one she’d seen in the tree. The very idea was laughable.
“Miss Akira… what do you want to write to the Guardian Gods? Aren’t you scared of them? Your brother…” Touko’s voice trembled, and she couldn’t say more.
“My brother was killed by the Guardian Gods. I think he told them about the Millennium Comet too early. If only we weren’t about to be attacked by the Spiders…” She sighed. “Now that rumors of the Millennium Comet have spread, well… there would be no reason for the Guardian Gods to kill my brother. They didn’t want those rumors to spread. It was important to them, at the time, for them to suppress all knowledge of the Millennium Comet.”
Gathering momentum, Akira got up, straining her eyes up at the stars of the capital’s sky. “After I left the capital, I was picked up by a group of wandering Fire Hunters and trained. I was given a training because I had a sickle from my brother. I didn’t have a dog. As I was moving through the forest close to one of the villages, my companions asked me to hand over my sickle. They said that being a Fire Hunter is a man’s job, and that women aren’t even allowed to hold a sickle.”
Akira smiled as if she were mocking the memory.
“That’s awful,” Touko said.
Akira’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, it’s what they said. And I have no right to criticize others for their treatment of me. I would have abandoned Kun in the forest without a second thought, just because he’s a Spider. But he’s just a kid. I know that now. I should have always known it.” As she spoke, Akira’s voice took on an innocent, childlike quality. She was practically babbling like a little kid.
“Anyway, the man who taught me was a Fire Hunter named Kiichi. He was about the same age as my brother. He was a good guy. Focused on teaching me how to survive in the forest before anything else. How to ward off Fire Fiends, where Tree People settlements are, what kinds of plants are safe to eat, that kind of thing.”
Touko tried to imagine what Akira’s training had been like as she listened.
Then Akira snorted. “But—and you won’t believe this—even Kiichi told me to hand my sickle over and settle in one of the villages. I think he genuinely believed that I wasn’t cut out to be Fire Hunter, but I insisted on getting a dog and trying it out. I wore him down, and eventually he gave me his dog since he’d been meaning to get a new one.” She pet Temari’s head lovingly and smiled down at the little beast.
Just as suddenly as her smile had appeared, it disappeared. “The world is such a mess right now. But we’re still alive. The world hasn’t ended yet. The Spiders are coming. People are saying that they’re here to destroy the capital, but I don’t think that’s true. I think they want the Millennium Comet. They want to take it for themselves. We have to find it before the Spiders can.”
Touko understood what it was like to be considered weak and not cut out for things. She respected Akira’s bravery and competence and wanted to borrow those things for herself.
Akira sat still and petted Temari for awhile.
“Miss Akira, does the Millennium Comet use ancient fire? Will it burn people?”
“I don’t know,” Akira said. “The core of it was formed by the Guardian Gods, I think. And the Millennium Comet was made when humans could still handle natural fire safely.” She pressed one palm against her chest. “I haven’t seen it, though. I don’t really know what it is. The idea that it can save us now might just be wishful thinking. But,” she said, lowering her voice as she took out a black notebook, “I think that this might contain some answers.”
“Is that your brother’s notebook, Miss Akira?”
“That’s right. The guy you met in the city found it and copied it. He gave me this.”
Touko was astonished. To think that Akira’s brother had left behind a book, and Koushi had found it and copied it so that he could give it to the dead author’s sister.
“According to this notebook, the flame at the core the Millennium Comet is formed of natural fire. It will cause humans and Guardian Gods to combust if they get too close to it. That flame is contained within the body or shell of the Millennium Comet. The fire of the Divine One that never burns out or changes.”
Akira spoke as if reciting a chant. It was clear that she was reciting her brother’s words.
Touko remembered what she’d seen underground with Koushi. Some of what Akira was saying reminded her of what the long-necked overlarge Tree Person, Willow, had told them.
“But when the star returns to the earth, the sickle forged by Tokohanahime will be used to harvest this fire.” Akira was quoting again. “If it is suppressed and harvested, the fire will not cause bodily combustion and will be a blessing to the people. The Guardian Gods’ version of fire can only be used if someone is given their tools. A Fire Fiend may die by another weapon other than the sickles, but in that case, the fire fuel that their bodies contain can’t be harvested. The Millennium Comet has similar limitations. That’s why only Fire Hunters can go after the Millennium Comet.”
“But then… couldn’t you combust if you get too close to it?” Touko asked.
“Yes. That’s why I want the Guardian Gods’ help. I want to minimize the amount of time I have to spend hunting it. The faster I can do it, the less risk there is that I’ll combust, or get hurt in some other way.”
Akira turned her face towards Touko. “Before that happens, black carts will leave the capital, heading for villages that are probably desperate for fire fuel by now. You have to go with them.”
“Why, Miss Akira?”
“There are people in your village waiting for you, aren’t there? You’ve done a great job. You delivered Kanata to his family. Now you must return to the village where you were born.”
Touko felt a tightness in her chest. The darkness of the attic spread over her like a shroud, crawling over her skin unpleasantly.
“The Spiders have obtained natural fire. The Spiders were originally at odds with the Guardian Gods, and now they will use that fire to attack them. This cannot end well. Something far more tragic than what happened at the bay could happen here. Before that happens, I will become the King of the Fire Hunters by successfully hunting and harvesting the Millennium Comet. To do that, I’ll need Tokohanahime’s power to lead me to the hunting grounds where it will appear. If I can’t find it, then having a Fire Hunter’s sickle is useless.”
Stars shone faintly overhead.
“Anyone can hold the title of King of the Fire Hunters, man or woman. But to hunt the Millennium Comet, we must create a petition for Tokohanahime. There’s a high chance that I’ll be killed the moment I deliver the petition, but if it’s written on blessed paper, the Guardian Gods shouldn’t be able to ignore it. I’ll take the petition to the shrine. I’ll probably die, but then another Fire Hunter can hunt the Millennium Comet.”
Akira shook her head slowly. Her hair swept the dusty floor like the tail of a timid animal.
Pain dug into Touko’s chest like the tearing of metal claws. Akira would die just like her brother. It wasn’t fair.
“Miss Akira, what will happen to you? You shouldn’t die. And what about Shouzou, and his parents, and Kaho, and Kun, and everyone?”
“And Kanata?” Akira asked, glancing at Touko.
If Akira died and the capital was attacked, it was likely that Kanata would die, too. Touko remembered Kanata’s breathing, his bark, the way his feet dug into the ground a little bit whenever he ran. He’d finally returned to his family, and that was good. He’d come such a long way to find his family again. Shouzou had risked so much, and Akira had guarded them selflessly all the way here. For all of that effort to be in vain… Touko couldn’t even think about. it.
If only she could be more like Kanata, who was brave and strong. Kaho had said that she felt useless, but Touko was the useless one. Akira had resolved to fight alone. Touko didn’t think that was right. She gritted her teeth and sat up from the floor, turning her wide eyes on Akira.
“I can’t go home yet… I need cobalt flowers. The paper-makers told me to go to the factory and get some. If I go home without them, the paper-makers will beat me up. They’ll also deprive me of food. My grandmother had her eyes blinded when she was a baby. She was born before the Fire Hunters’ time, and her parents blinded her so that she would be able to work in the dark more easily. They said that if she couldn’t see anything, she wouldn’t need light, so they wouldn’t even give her a lantern.”
Akira frowned at this unexpectedly cruel revelation.
Touko gained momentum as she spoke. Now that she’d started, she didn’t want to stop. “Please, can you take me with you? I might get in the way, but I want to help you however I can.”
Akira lowered her voice, saying “No. You have someone waiting for you in the village. Your grandmother, right?”
“Yes, my grandmother is in the village. But she’s not the only one I care about. There was a bride named Hotaru who rode in the black cart with us and got off before the dragon attack. And in a glass-making village, there was a kind woman who helped us. You’re hunting the Millennium Comet to save everyone—not just my village, not just Hotaru’s, not just the capital, but everybody. Right? And I want to do the same thing.”
Touko got up and clutched her bag to her chest. The Protector Stone that Koushi had given her was inside it, along with the candy that Kira had given her and a red barrette that was a gift from her parents. Holding each of these small items together, she sat upright next to Akira with her knees pressed together.
“The Fire Hunter who was Kanata’s master died saving me. Mr. Shouzou was seriously injured saving me. You’re trying to save more people. But what can I do? I saw a Guardian God when I went to see the Tree People in the city. Aren’t there a lot of Guardian Gods at their shrine? Will you deliver your petition to them in my handwriting? I don’t want to see people die anymore.”
Touko pulled out a stack of blank blessed paper from her bag and showed it to Akira. Even in the darkness, the paper stood out bright white in the faint illumination of the skylight.
“If you don’t take me, I won’t give you the blessed paper,” Touko said. She smiled. She hadn’t thought of denying the paper to Akira before now, but this might be the best way to make sure she could come along and help Akira.
Akira sat cross-legged with her back straight. Temari immediately jumped onto her, purring on her lap. Akira’s expression tightened with concern. She looked into Touko’s eyes and said, “Okay… but there are conditions. You must take the sickle along with you for self-defense. And you must not come inside the Guardian Gods’ shrine with me. If you can’t agree to those conditions, I won’t let you come with me.”
The stars in the sky dimmed. The wind’s direction shifted, causing smoke from the factories to cover the sky in a haze.
Akira shook her head like a dog, her curly red hair bouncing. She took a long, deep breath. She wasn’t looking at Touko anymore. Slowly, she made herself face Touko again and swallowed heavily. She reached out to grab the stack of blessed paper from Touko’s hands. This was the last of the blessed paper Touko carried: there were only three sheets left.
“It’s beautiful… They say that Tokohanahime writes her prayers on this paper and nothing else. I wonder what she writes.” Akira held the plain paper up to the skylight. It was thin enough that the shadow of some stars shone through.
“Thank you, Touko. I won’t let this go to waste.”
Touko didn’t trust herself to speak for awhile. She found her voice again with effort and said, “Um, Miss Akira?”
“Hm?” Akira asked.
Touko couldn’t really see Akira’s face very well from this angle. She had a sense that there were things moving in the dark that she would never be able to see and took a long breath of stale, odd-tasting capital air.
“Thank you.”
Akira reached out and placed her hand gently on Touko’s head.
Kanata… Touko wanted to ask the dog if she could protect Akira, like he’d protected her. That was what she wanted to do.
As she felt the warmth of her hand on her head, Touko believed strongly that Akira should become the King of the Fire Hunters.
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