Shouzou groaned at odd intervals during the days and nights that followed. He was alive, but he didn’t regain consciousness. Three days had passed since they had arrived at this house. His sallow face seemed to be regaining a little color, but all he did was moan and groan. He hadn’t opened his eyes even once.
After the first day, he called out at times in his sleep—having nightmares, it seemed. Touko was frightened whenever this happened, though she said nothing about it. Shouzou having nightmares was normal; she shouldn’t complain when he couldn’t even wake up.
If only I had been more careful back then… If I had noticed the Spider, Shouzou wouldn’t have been injured so badly…
Touko filled a basin with water from the house’s tap and washed bandages in the fresh water. She squeezed moisture out of the dirty fabric, over and over again.
Bright sunshine spilled in through the window. During the day, Shouzou’s father went to work at a factory, and his mother went to work at a laundry and tailoring store in town.
“There are some scary rumors floating around, so be sure to lock the door. They say that Spiders are going to attack the capital, and that some of the Fire Hunters’ dogs were killed by Spiders in the forest. Stay inside, and be safe,” Shouzou’s mother said before going to work.
Touko thought about the girl she’d met while looking for Kanata’s owner. She had a friend who was hurt, too. Touko hoped that the girl’s friend was getting better.
Kanata was watching over Touko from behind. She stopped washing bandages for a moment and bowed her head. She hadn’t gone out again to look for Kanata’s family—not since she’d failed to find them the first time. During the day, she did chores with Kaho and the others. She’d gone out to get more medicine a few times. Kanata stayed by her and never tried to run off.
As for Akira…
“What’s this? You’re all dressed up again. That red skirt looks great on you,” Akira said cheerfully as she entered the room. Her sleeves were tied back with cords.
Touko turned back to look at Akira, who was almost fully recovered after taking the fever reducer from the pharmacist.
“Don’t be making sad faces, now. There’s so much work to do! I went and got lunch,” Akira said. She pressed something warm and wrapped in seaweed against the back of Touko’s head; it smelled like salt.
Temari poked her head out of the crook of Akira’s arm and sniffed the air.
Private homes in the capital didn’t have kitchens, so food was prepared in communal kitchens around the city or bought from food stalls.
Touko wrung out the bandages, climbed onto a chair and hung them on pegs that hung from the ceiling to dry. She would hide in this house until Shouzou was better… if Shouzou got better. Sometimes she worried that he wouldn’t ever recover.
It would soon become known throughout the capital that the black cart had not returned, but at least until Shouzou recovered, Touko and the others would keep their presence here a secret.
“I brought this from over in that kitchen in the slums,” Akira said. “If you want more, go and get it quick before there’s no more left.”
Kun peeked his head out from behind Akira. Dressed in capital-style clothing, he didn’t look like a Spider at all. Since he hated being cooped up inside the house, he accompanied Akira outside whenever she went to go and get food.
Touko pulled out her bag and picked up the candy inside—candy that had been given to her in exchange for the Protector Stone. She loosened the wrapping slightly and took a sniff, and the sweet fantasies of the capital she had imagined in her home village came back to her. Her heart warmed. She re-wrapped the candy without tasting it and put it back in her bag.
“Kanata, should we go eat some food?”
Kanata gave a short, quiet bark in acknowledgment. Touko petted the fur on the back of his neck, and he looked quite happy with himself.
Akira had other business in the capital aside from bringing back food. Under ordinary circumstances, she would have taken Touko’s blessed paper to the Garden of the Gods—the shrine where the Guardian Gods were—but there hadn’t been time, and Akira was just as concerned about Shouzou’s well-being as everyone else. She had her hands full helping with chores, cleaning Shouzou’s wounds, carrying in food and medicine, and a host of other small tasks that filled her days.
The pharmacist visited at odd hours and sometimes stayed overnight in the main entryway where Touko and Kaho had slept on their first night in the house.
“He’s not out of the woods yet,” the pharmacist said. “I’m an unlicensed doctor, so I’ll take the blame if something truly terrible happens, but I hope it won’t. Even licensed doctors lose patients sometimes. It can’t be helped.” He brought new medicines, including ones to help Shouzou regain his lost blood and fight off infections. He expressed his pronouncements of woe in front of everyone, including Shouzou’s parents. He never quite lost hope, but he was never very optimistic about Shouzou’s chances.
Akira glared daggers at the pharmacist whenever he insinuated that Shouzou might still die.
“I said I would protect him, but instead he was seriously injured. I can’t let him die. It would be disrespectful to his parents, who are hosting us.” Akira said this and other variations of the same to the pharmacist, who was unimpressed. Wounds and illnesses didn’t listen to reason.
Sometimes, Touko mentioned leaving the house—all of them, without Shouzou—and that idea made Akira even angrier than she was at the pharmacist. Her auburn eyes burned with the passion of her refusal.
Touko, Kaho and Kun generally ate their meals in the room next to the one where Shouzou was convalescing. At night, they lay blankets on the floor and slept there together.
“Kaho,” Touko called out to her friend, who was sitting next to Shouzou. The window was slightly open, but the air of the room was heavy with the smells of disinfectant and excrement. Just as she had done on the boat, Kaho held Shouzou’s uninjured right hand and kept her head down. Touko called out to her again, but Kaho didn’t seem to hear her. She tried again, this time in a louder voice, and Kaho finally turned her head.
“Let’s have lunch. Akira and Kun brought some food.”
Kaho nodded, looked down at Shouzou one more time, then headed for the door. Kaho, like Touko, was wearing her new capital-style clothes. They all sat down on the floor, along with the dogs, and ate their meal. That meal was a steamed dumpling made of kneaded wheat flour wrapped around boiled cabbage leaves and chopped grassy roots. The wheat flour shell of the dumpling was hard, but the inside was warm and soft.
“It was a relief to see that the area hasn’t changed at all,” Akira said. “When I lived in the capital, I often bought this and ate it during my lunch break. Unfortunately, no one remembered me there anymore.”
According to Akira, there were a lot of poor neighborhoods scattered around the main industrial area. Akira had worked in a factory before she became a Fire Hunter. She knew where the best food stalls were—food there was cheap, tasted good and was filling. She’d made friends with some of the food stall vendors, but hadn’t found any friendly faces today.
“The things they sell around there are always cheap and easy to preserve or maintain. It’s nice not to have to cook—there are things I never really got used to as a wandering Fire Hunter, and cold camp food is one of them.”
“The city smells funny,” Kun said. “There was a man by the food stall who smelled like a lot of weird things.”
“That was a drug dealer, Kun,” Akira said patiently. “You shouldn’t ever follow those people, no matter how interesting they smell.”
Kun pouted. “What does ‘drug dealer’ mean?”
“The one we saw peddles asafuyou. It’s a dangerous drug that causes hallucinations. Men like him lure kids out with candy. Never, ever buy anything from him.”
Kun nodded solemnly.
Touko sat on the floor, sharing her food with Kanata and feeling strangely out of place. Kaho ate her food quickly, barely pausing to chew. Touko remembered how silent Kaho had always been during meals when they were riding in the black cart together.
I’ve come a long way, Touko thought to herself. I’ve come such a long way. Shouzou made it all the way home.
Just before they finished their lunch, a groan came from the back room. Kaho got up before Touko could, ran into the room and slammed the window shut before any sound could reach the street. Touko followed Kaho more slowly. She found Kaho sitting next to Shouzou’s bed, holding his hand again. She whispered words in his ear that Touko couldn’t hear. She did that sometimes, or sung lullabies from her home village. Being spoken or sung to would usually make Shouzou quiet down.
Touko found it hard to see Shouzou in this state. The Shouzou she knew was a hard worker, though perpetually exhausted; he smiled at work and guided others through their tasks and protected other people before he protected himself. Touko couldn’t see any of that on his face now. He was… blank. It was like he wasn’t truly here, but had been replaced with a drooling, wounded, mindless animal. He even smelled different, and so much worse.
Touko snapped herself out of these sudden, unfair judgments. Shouzou was still Shouzou. He was hurt and that was sad, but who Shouzou was hadn’t changed.
“Will he get better?” Touko asked.
“When he wakes up,” Kaho said.
Touko knelt near Kaho and addressed Shouzou. “Mr. Shouzou? Please wake up. You’re safe now.”
No response.
“Kaho… what should I do? This is all my fault.”
“No it’s not,” Kaho said. “I collapsed and wouldn’t wake for a long time once, too, and the doctor who came said it was exhaustion. Shouzou was exhausted before the attack, even. If he rests enough, he’ll recover.” She was still holding Shouzou’s hand. Her eyes were clear and hard like the glass her village made. Not for the first time, Touko thought her brave and beautiful.
“I’m going to marry him,” Kaho said.
“What?”
Kaho smiled. There was no hesitation in her voice when she said, “I left my village as a bride. I’ll be his bride. Ever since I got on the black cart, all I could think about was dying. But I’ve been rescued from danger over and over again. I never thought I would ever make it this far. I don’t have to be a bride anymore—I’m sure I could stay here for awhile, or find a job in the city. But, well… Even if Shouzou wakes up, he won’t he as strong as before, at least for awhile. He’ll need help, and I want to help him. Even if he never wakes up, I’ll stay with him and help as much as I can. I’ve made up my mind.”
Touko was speechless. She never thought that Kaho would want to be a bride. She’d thrown away the bridal ribbon binding her hair in the village they’d met Akira in.
Shouzou went quiet. Touko looked into his face and saw the same man who’d searched the wreckage of the black cart for his friends—the same man who’d stood up to protect her and Kaho on their long journey. “He’ll be glad,” she said. “I know he’ll be glad. Mr. Shouzou, wake up! Kaho wants to marry you. Don’t you think she’d pretty? You’re so lucky.”
Kaho blushed a little, but then she narrowed her eyes at Touko as if she had suddenly looked directly into the sun. The scars on her face made her appear older and more dignified.
Kanata let out a little huff.
Touko felt happier, as if spring had come indoors and was spreading its warmth over her.
***
“Well, I’m off.”
Despite Shouzou’s condition, his aged father set off for the factory early the next morning. He was rather short with a sturdy build. His face didn’t resemble Shouzou’s very much. Touko had doubted several times whether they were related until the previous night, when Kaho had waited for Shouzou’s parents to return home from work and told them that she wanted to marry Shouzou. The expression of joy on their faces matched Shouzou’s typical easy smile.
“Well, I’ll be off after breakfast. Are you sure that’s all you’re eating?” Shouzou’s mother tilted her head and stared at the food she’d bought in the slums. She stored all nonperishable foods in a pile on an old chair in the corner of the house.
There was little interaction between the wealthier city residents and the poor. It was obvious that the wealthy looked down on those who lived in the slums as lesser people. Akira, who bought things from the city’s poorest areas and even made friends there, was quite an oddball.
“I’m grateful that you’ve given us shelter. We have enough to eat, and we’ll definitely repay your kindness,” Akira said.
Touko listened to Akira and Shouzou’s parents talking while picking up the food that Kun had dropped on his plate. Kaho finished her breakfast first and went to sit next to Shouzou again.
Kanata had been glued to Touko’s side lately and couldn’t be budged. He followed the movements of Akira and Shouzou’s mother with his eyes as they bustled around the room.
“No, it’s us who can’t thank you enough. You’ve all been through quite an ordeal. I’m so grateful that you didn’t abandon someone so injured, but brought him all the way home. Not only that, you even took care of him… I’m so grateful to each of you.” She smiled, but it was short-lived. “I should tell you that I’m hearing some terrible rumors in the city. And—” She tried to say more, but words died in her throat. Her hands trembled, and her expression was fearful.
Then Shouzou’s mother shook her head. “No, we’ll talk about that later. For now…” Her smile returned. “I never thought my son would return home with a bride. He might be just as surprised when he wakes. It seems that Kaho doesn’t want to return home. My husband and I talked about it, and we’re happy to host her here. I was worried, actually, about what would happen to my son without her here, so I’m relieved that she wants to stay.” Her voice carried the hopeful resonance of a prayer.
Shouzou’s mother nodded to herself, then said, “I don’t know how long we’ll be safe here. The Guardian Gods have gone quiet. I’ve heard rumors that the city might be attacked, but I don’t know if it’s true. And until it happens, I have to go to work. I’ll ask you all to tend to the house while I’m gone,” she said, bowing to her house guests.
Shouzou’s mother finished eating and getting ready. She went to check on her son before she left for the day.
“See you later,” Shouzou’s mother said to Akira, Touko and Kun. She left.
Touko watched her go, feeling frustrated. She wanted to know more about what was going on in the city, but Shouzou needed care and she, Kaho and Akira worked in shifts; she couldn’t leave the house for long to investigate. If Shouzou awoke and his mother fell ill, they would be even more overburdened with caregiver tasks than they already were.
Well, it’s time for me to work, too, Touko thought to herself in encouragement. Shouzou had taken a job on the black cart to pay for his mother’s medical expenses. He wasn’t drawing a wage anymore, so she and the others had to help where they could.
Touko and Akira took dirty bandages from Kaho and cleaned them in the bathroom. Shouzou’s wounds were no longer actively bleeding, so cleaning the bandages was getting easier by the day.
After washing the bandages, Touko washed her face and Akira performed some morning squats and stretches.
“I’m going out today, too.” Akira said. “I’m not going to get food, so I’ll leave Kun here.”
Touko stopped washing the bandages and turned to Akira with wide eyes.
“But where…” Was Akira going to go to the Guardian Gods’ shrine? Touko’s heart beat faster. Temari sat on Akira’s feet as she stretched her shoulders out. She wasn’t looking at anything in particular. Her eyes were distant and unfocused, like she was gazing at something far away.
“I’m going to go hunting. I have to pay my doctor’s bills. There’s a tunnel that leads to the Black Forest from here. Fire Hunters in the capital use it. I’m gonna go to the forest and hunt. Can you hold down the fort? I’ll ask Kaho and Kun to help so you don’t get bored.”
Touko allowed herself a sigh of relief, but then remembered that if the city wasn’t safe, the forest was even more unsafe. “I’ll keep an eye on things for you, but will you be okay, Akira? What if there are Spiders in the forest?”
Fire Hunters and hunting dogs had been killed in the bay by a horde of Fire Fiends. Spiders, except for Kun, would no longer burst into flames in the presence of natural fire, since they’d been bitten by venomous insects that made them immune. Akira had said that the Spiders must also be aiming for the Millennium Comet, Flickering Flame. If that was the case, perhaps they were lurking in the forest near the capital, just as the rumors said. If Akira were to come across a Spider who used natural fire against her…
Akira placed her hand on Touko’s head and patted it as if she wanted to drive away her worries. “It’s fine. There are probably no Spiders near the capital yet. If there were, there would surely be more of the Guardian Gods’ guards around the city. I saw some dead dogs being carried to one of the disposal areas yesterday, though, so I do know that the forest is dangerous right now, and I’ll be careful. The Spiders aren’t here yet, but they’re certainly coming soon. If I’m going to go hunting, now might be the only chance I get for a long while.”
Akira looked down at Touko with calm brown eyes and sought to reassure her. Morning sun filtered through the frosted glass of the window. Touko remembered the sickle that was wrapped up in the blessed paper that her aunt had given her. I wish we could go together, Touko thought but didn’t say. Even the tiny Temari faced off against wild beasts in the dangerous forest to protect her owner.
Akira’s injured left arm was no longer broken and she could move it without difficulty, but not all of the bandages had been removed.
Touko thought for a moment, then said, “If you’re going to go, then take Kanata with you. The Fire Hunter who was in the black cart with us took him out to go hunting, and he did well there. He’ll help you.”
Touko leaned forward. Kanata wiggled his ears under the sink, and Akira’s expression took on a faint sternness. “Touko. You came to the capital to return Kanata to his family, didn’t you? You couldn’t find them the other day, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone for good. This dog is a friend who has helped us in the past, but you and I shouldn’t just do as we please with him.”
Akira’s tone was even, but her words were absolute.
Sakuroku had once scolded Touko harshly for treating Kanata like he was her dog. He’d threatened to kick her off the black cart so that Kanata, the sickle and the Protector Stone would travel the rest of the way to the capital without her.
“Besides,” Akira added, “Temari and Kanata don’t get along very well.” Wrinkling her nose, Akira pointed to the dog at her feet. Temari stomped her tiny white paws, then snorted triumphantly at Kanata. When Kanata approached to sniff Temari’s butt, Temari bared her fangs.
Touko clutched her pants and stared at her skinny knees and small feet. “Well… okay, but please be careful, Miss Akira. Come back to us all safely.”
Akira laughed and waved her off. “Hey, now. There’s no need to worry. I’ll be back tonight, just you watch. I’m getting sick of hiding inside, anyway.” She dressed in her Fire Hunter uniform, hiding her red hair under the hood of a cloak that Shouzou’s mother had loaned to her. In the cloak and her armor, Akira was practically indistinguishable from every Fire Hunter that did their work in the capital.
And so, accompanied only by Temari, Akira left the house. The room around Touko felt unusually empty after she was gone.
Kun’s footsteps sounded awfully loud as he ran down the hallway. He’d just learned that Kaho was going to get married and was shocked and confused by this news.
Touko quickly finished washing up and returned to the hallway to intercept Kun. She found him stretched out in the hall with his stomach on an old rug and his legs lifted into the air behind him. Akira was gone, and he was already bored. Kun was a Spider, but he was also just a little kid.
Looking closer at Kun, Touko took a step back. There were bugs crawling all over the floor—all around Kun, and on the rug too.
“Kun, what are you doing?!”
“I’m picking out insects to be messengers,” Kun said.
Touko froze still and tried to process what was happening. She’d worked in the fields in her village, so she was familiar with a lot of different kinds of insects and wasn’t usually scared of them. This was different. There were so many insects, all inside and swarming around Kun. It looked wrong and terrifying.
“I gathered them all up and told them not to get into anything,” Kun said. “I can do that with my eyes. Other Spiders can’t do that. They can’t make insects send messages and do stuff because they got bit all over and are immune to fire now. Not mom, not dad, not my brothers. Only me. Maybe that’s why the venom didn’t work on me…”
Kun muttered to himself under his breath. He didn’t sound angry or sad about being abandoned by his family. He almost never talked this much, and Touko got the sense that he was talking at least as much to himself as to her. The bugs wriggled and writhed; some attacked each other until Kun intervened.
“Akira went to the forest,” Kun said. “I’ll protect her from the insects there. The strongest among these will go as my messenger. They’ll convince the other bugs…” Kun thrust his small index finger into the wriggling insects, poking up and down. Their bodies entangled, stepping over each other, and one was isolated from the rest: a centipede. The centipede’s countless legs moved steadily over the floor. Black stripes on its red body revealed that was mature and venomous. It wriggled at Kun, climbed up the wall and disappeared.
“What is that bug going to do?” Touko asked.
“Follow Akira. She gets in trouble when she goes hunting. He’ll keep her safe.” Kun pointed with his eyes. “The centipede is my messenger. I can see what he sees. When I want to bite, he’ll bite. If anyone attacks Akira, he’ll bite them, and he’ll tell the other bugs to bite, too. His venom is stronger than usual.” He stared into the air in front of his face, never blinking. The insects crawling around him started to disperse. They went under the floor, flew up to the attic or out onto the street through the partly-open front door.
Touko still didn’t understand what Kun was doing. She closed the front door after the insects passed through it. Kun didn’t blink or move, but kept insisting that he was looking out for Akira.
Touko rested her hand on the scruff of Kanata’s neck for emotional support. When Kun had stayed silent for some time, she went to the back room to check on Shouzou and Kaho. It was only after she entered the room that she realized that she hadn’t heard so much as a peep out of Shouzou since the early morning. The window was slightly open, letting in warm spring air and a gentle breeze.
Kaho was asleep on the bed, holding Shouzou’s hand. Sunlight shone on her eyelashes, but she was deeply asleep. It was the first time that Touko had seen Kaho look so at ease. She finally had a place to belong.
Touko grabbed a blanket and placed it over Kaho.
Kanata looked up curiously as Touko wiped a few tears from her eyes. Touko picked up some paper and a pencil from the desk in the corner of the room and wrote Kaho a note.
I’m going to look for Kanata’s family again. Akira gone hunting and will be back by evening. Kun says he’s watching over Akira with an insect to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble. He’s not moving, but I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about. Kaho, please get some rest.
She set the note near Kaho on the bed, then left the room, careful not to make any noise. She put on the red clothes that her aunt had packed for her back in her home village, then slipped on shoes. She settled her bag over her shoulder, made sure she had everything she needed, then went out onto the street with Kanata. She locked the door behind them.
From the outside and in the brilliant spring sunshine, it was obvious that Shouzou’s house had been patched up many times, and there were three or four entrances that she could see. The neighboring house looked deserted; a pile of luggage rested inside, visible through the frosted glass window. There was a way to get into Shouzou’s house that was close to the neighbors’ hidden side-door. When she came back, she decided that she would try getting back inside Shouzou’s house through the neighbors’ door to avoid being seen.
The street was empty at this hour of the day. Everyone was either working in the factories or in the kitchens and workshops scattered around the city. Despite the disturbing rumors that Touko had heard, the city appeared serene under the spring sunshine. A crow warmed its wings on a rooftop, and a rat scurried away into a dark alley as Touko walked past.
Kanata caught the rat and swallowed it whole.
“Kanata, should we go to that house again?” Touko called out. “Maybe your family didn’t go far? If we go back, we might find them.” It was a beautiful day. Touko thought that today might be a good day to say farewell to Kanata, if it came to it.
Kanata lifted his head for scritches and ignored her questions. Touko parted his gray fur with her fingers, firmly scratching his skin, which felt warm. She pressed her face against his and sniffed him, like he did to her, determined to never forget his face. She petted his thick, triangular ears and looked into his soulful eyes.
And then he walked away away. Crossing bridges and following complicated paths, Kanata made his way through the city. Touko tried to memorize the turns he took so that she could find her way home without help. She got the feeling that Kanata would find his family today. This was what she was supposed to do—what her grandmother had sent her to the capital to do.
An old woman dozed on a bench at the edge of a crowded alley. Children played in the distance, almost out of sight. Smoke from a factory drifted through the bright sky, much closer than the clouds.
The water in the canals alongside the road shimmered, reflecting early morning sunlight. Touko heard splashing and saw a person walking along the edge of a canal far ahead of her. It seemed that the canal water was shallow in this area. Touko didn’t consider bathing outside—it was the beginning of spring, and the water would be cold—but she did think that other people might try it, especially on a day with such wonderful weather. She wanted to dip her feet into the canal and enjoy the nice breeze. That was what people in her village did on days like today. In her village, the kids would be swimming and fishing in the river already, no matter how cold the water was.
When they arrived at the house where Kanata had led her before, there was a “For Sale” sign posted. There was no sign of anyone inside. Touko looked around, and after making sure there were no black-uniformed police officers around, she called out to Kanata.
Kanata put his nose close to the ground and sniffed around near the door and around the house. The road here was made of hard-packed soil. Here and there, a few patches of grass sprouted.
Kanata continued to sniff intently. With his nose pointed downwards, he walked around the house, searching for traces of his family. How can an animal find something by smell alone? Touko wondered as she watched Kanata’s back.
A shadow passed over the sun. Touko looked up and saw clouds. It might rain soon. She was worried about Kaho, who was sleeping with the window open, but the window wasn’t open very far. She’d probably be okay. She’d wake up and close the window before the rain got too bad.
Kanata suddenly raised his head. The fur on the nape of his neck stood on end. Touko looked around, but saw no policemen or other people anywhere.
Kanata growled.
Touko looked up. “Kanata!”
Something fell from the roof of a house just ahead of them, landing with a strident clang on the road below. Touko thought it must be a Fire Fiend and took a step back.
The thing that had fallen from the roof wasn’t a Fire Fiend. It was person-shaped, but small, and its eyes didn’t glow with red fire like Fire Fiends’ did. White cloth covered its face and it wore raised wooden clogs on both feet. A black over-robe adorned its tiny body. It was shorter than Kanata, and shorter than her by quite a lot.
Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t a policeman or a Spider. The thing’s face was covered, so Touko couldn’t tell where it was looking aside from the general direction. It advanced a step toward her and Kanata.
Touko felt the thing’s attention sharpen on her.
The thing drew a tiny sword from a scabbard at its hip and pointed it at her.
Touko frowned. This tiny—warrior?—looked like it wanted to threaten her, but its movements were slow and clumsy.
It was only after she heard someone call out to her from behind that she realized that her senses were affected.
“—Kanata!”
A man shouted Kanata’s name. Touko put her back to the tiny warrior in black with the drawn sword to look at who had shouted. Turning away spared her eyes; a moment later, a flash of bright light radiated from the warrior’s direction. A thin trickle of ash fell from the sky.
It’s raining?
Touko thought about the flowers in her village and wondered if they were blooming.
The man grabbed Touko’s wrist as she stood there blankly and pulled her along. She stumbled. Kanata’s head pushed against Touko’s knees; she nearly fell. It felt just like when she’d fled from the dragon that was attacking the black cart. Her wandering mind remembered the danger, and she lurched into movement.
The man said, “Run!”
Touko ran with her hand in his. Instead of heading up a hill, the man turned into a narrow alley. Kanata was right beside her, panting from exertion. She still had her bag with everything in it. Her shoes were uncomfortable, but she kept going. Who was holding her hand?
Touko’s heart beat so hard it hurt. She thought the blood might boil out of her body, she was so hot. Rain fell as they moved, cooling her a bit. Her body swayed, twisting this way and that through the narrow streets. In the back of her mind, she understood that she was running away from the warrior she’d seen, but she didn’t know the person running with her.
Suddenly, the man stopped running and dropped her hand. He was out of breath and fell to his knees. Kanata came to a halt and sniffed the man all over. Now that they’d stopped, Touko saw that he was young, perhaps the same age as the young woman that Touko had given a Protector Stone to, though he was much taller than Touko. There was no one nearby, and Touko didn’t see the tiny warrior anywhere.
Holding his stomach and breathing heavily, the young man raised his head. He was wearing glasses. His clothes were of the same style that most people wore in the capital. His face was drenched in sweat. Touko thought he looked vaguely familiar.
“Wow, you’re fast. I can’t keep up with you since I got hurt lately,” the young man said. He was out of breath and kneeling on the ground.
Touko collapsed in front of him. I found him. The young man’s eyes were almost the exact same as those of the Fire Hunter who had saved Touko in the forest near her village.
“So you did find Kira!” the young man said to Kanata. “You’ve come back! Hinako will be so happy…” He grimaced—it looked like he wanted to smile, but the effort pained him. He pet Kanata’s back, and Kanata wagged his tail vigorously from side to side. Drizzling rain fell in the narrow alleyway, soaking Kanata, the young man and Touko.
“Excuse me, sir, but was your father a Fire Hunter?” Touko asked.
The young man raised his eyebrows at Touko, who was still on her knees.
“Um… you don’t need to ask so formally, but… yes, that’s right.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Touko took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Then she placed her hands on the ground and bowed down. “I— Your father saved my life. I was attacked by a Fire Fiend in the forest. He helped me, but died of his wounds in the forest. His grave is in my village. I’m so, so sorry…”
Without even knowing if she was saying the words properly, Touko collapsed to the ground. She wondered if the young man would kick her or hit her. He must be angry. He had the right to be angry; that was okay. The most important thing was that Kanata had found his family.
“… Convulsions?” A hand touched her shoulder, and Touko froze.
The young man picked her up. Her hands and feet were numb, and her vision went dark.
“Just calm down and lift your head. You’ll hyperventilate.”
Touko saw flickering light behind her eyelids. She tried to look around and find Kanata.
“Now, exhale, and then inhale. Slowly. There’s no need to apologize, just calm down.”
Touko breathed as instructed, and her vision cleared. She no longer felt like she was about to fall over. Kanata looked up at her, his fur wet from the rain. Touko opened her eyes wide and looked up at the young man’s face.
He had his father’s eyes: very similar though not exactly the same. He appeared just as anxious and lonely as Touko, but he also looked like he was desperately trying to think of something to do to change the situation.
“This…” With trembling hands, Touko unwrapped the blessed paper from the sickle. She also took the Fire Hunter’s Protector Stone out of her bag. “I came to return his weapon and the Protector Stone. And the dog.”
The young man’s eyes widened behind his rain-stained glasses.
“Return—from where?”
“I-I’m from a paper-making village called Kamisuki. The Fire Hunter who saved me was from the capital. That’s why I’m here.”
She couldn’t bring herself to talk about the black cart yet. It wasn’t just her story to tell. Her hands shook, and the trembling spread to her whole body. She gritted her chattering teeth and rubbed her arms to still herself.
“I see.” His voice was filled with genuine surprise.
Touko quickly looked up to see if he was crying. He wasn’t. His expression was stern, but he was calm. “Thank you for bringing these here. I have a sick sister. She’ll be so happy to see Kanata. And… my father died saving you. I’m glad you’re okay.”
The young man looked down at Touko, who had forgotten to blink. Touko couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Kanata is the family dog. I always hated my father for abandoning his family and leaving the capital. But in the end, he died saving someone… I feel a little relieved now, knowing that he did the right thing. Thank you for telling me.”
Touko was speechless. She never expected to be thanked. She stopped shaking, though the drizzling rain was somewhat cold.
“This is yours, right?” In his outstretched hand, there was a light brown stone. A Protector Stone— the one Touko had given to the girl who had called out to her when she was lost and given her candy. She had told Touko that her friend was injured.
“Um… are you all right? I heard you were hurt.”
The young man had a hand pressed to one side of his abdomen.
“Did running hurt you more? I’m sorry.”
The young man smiled at her in reassurance. “I’ll be okay. I promise. I’m almost healed. I’m just a little tired because I haven’t run in a while. I was surprised at how fast I am. But this is important, right? I’ll give it back to you. Thanks to you, I’ll be all right.”
The Protector Stone had the name of the Guardian God of her village engraved upon it in white letters. When Touko left the village, her grandmother had sobbed as she’d handed it over to Touko.
“Ah. Thank you.”
Touko’s mind was foggy and confused. Was there more she needed to say to him? He was part of Kanata’s family.
“You should leave the capital as soon as possible. You came here with someone from your village, right?” He looked at her with a serious expression. “War is coming. Spiders might attack the Garden of the Gods.”
—Spiders. The people of the capital already knew about them.
“Spiders use fire… natural fire. So… you should be careful and leave this place too, shouldn’t you? Staying in the city is dangerous,” Touko said.
“How do you know that?” The young man asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. He wiped his glasses, neglecting his injured side for the moment, and then stood up. He held out his hand and helped Touko stand. Kanata looked at them.
“Anyway, let’s go. If we stay here, the spy might find us again.” His eyes scanned the rooftops, reminding Touko of his father’s again. She wondered if she should keep carrying the sickle now that she’d managed to return everything. The young man was injured; surely she shouldn’t make him lift anything.
Kanata’s gray fur shone in the rain. He was still looking at Touko and the young man. His triangular ears were up and alert.
A strange shadow drew Touko’s attention. A child jumped from the top of a rotting wall on the other side of the alley. They had sooty hair and tattered clothes. The child slithered up to another wooden fence without noticing Touko and the young man. They jumped onto an iron pole and climbed even higher.
Touko and the young man were speechless as they watched the child’s incredible display of acrobatics. The child headed towards the top of the iron pole, where a bird sat. It might have been a skylark; it had gray-green plumage and was thin for the season.
The child in rags leaped up and caught the little bird with his bare hands.
The child jumped down from higher than the roof of the nearest house and landed lightly on both feet. They scented the air. The child kept hold of the bird in one hand, not crushing it, and finally noticed Touko and the young man. The child stared at them intently with huge green eyes. They had messy sand-colored hair, gray skin and a tattoo of a plant on one cheek.
This was definitely a Tree Person. The child exuded the odor of the chemical that warded away Fire Fiends. Touko remembered what Shouzou had talked about with Asebi and the others in the Black Forest. There were Tree People in the capital, too—how had she forgotten about this? If normal doctors couldn’t save Shouzou, maybe the Tree People’s medicine would work.
Touko called out to the child, but the child remained silent. They tilted their head and turned away, running quickly through the alley. In a few moments, the child was lost to view.
“W-wait a second…” Touko said. She had to chase after the child. But she hadn’t returned the Fire Hunter’s things to the place where the young man was staying yet… what was she supposed to do?
Kanata took a deep breath, then took off after the child.
The young man gave chase, gesturing to Touko. “Come on! I’ll come with you. We’re going to find Tree People, right? I know where their residential area is. If you go alone, you might get lost!”
Touko ran after the young man down the narrow street.
The soft rain washed away the haze in the air as Touko, the young man and Kanata went in search of the capital’s Tree People.
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