But Shino slid his gaze away from the apartment building entrance to the edge of the property and muttered to himself, “When the jar broke, and I was set free, they were in the midst of building a few modest houses here, but it appears they tore those down and built an apartment building. I…felt like something was calling me here, but perhaps it was my imagination. There really isn’t anything here anymore.”
“You said that before. What was here in the past?”
“This is where Tokifuyu’s mansion stood—though it was more of a miserable shack.”
“Huh?! This is where it was?!”
Stunned, Masamichi looked up at the magnificent apartment building.
He couldn’t link its elegant appearance to an image of run-down houses in picture scrolls from the Heian period. It was so devoid of the atmosphere of the time that Masamichi could see why Shino described it as “a place that no longer had meaning.”
“This is the ushitora…the unlucky direction for the capital. And there was a tiny seam in the barrier at hell’s gate that protected the capital. Tokifuyu intentionally built his home on this spot and settled here while sealing that seam.”
“Wasn’t that dangerous? Oh, wait, he was a spiritual medium.”
“He laughed about it, saying it was part of his job. And…it was in the spot where the seam existed that he sealed me in a jar.”
Masamichi swallowed.
According to Shino, Tokifuyu Tatsumi had subdued the man-eating specter and made him his personal apparition. He’d said that one day, after many years of servitude, Tokifuyu had suddenly reduced Shino’s powers to the limit, made the specter unable to take on a human form, and then sealed him in a jar and buried him in the ground.
Masamichi’s heart ached when he recalled the anger and bitterness in Shino’s voice when he told him the story, even though he put on a poker face.
Shino looks somewhat nostalgic when he talks about Tokifuyu. But when he mentions the time Tokifuyu sealed him in a jar…he’s quiet, but I can feel fury that sends shivers down my spine. To him, it must have been an incident that he still can’t let go of, even after a thousand years.
Masamichi wanted to know more about Tokifuyu, but he had mixed feelings about their breakup. He wanted to hear about it, but it also seemed to be a topic that someone like him shouldn’t broach.
But for once, Masamichi couldn’t help asking.
“Shino, you told me when we first met that Tokifuyu…used you to close the gates to the capital to keep demons away, right?”
“As an item to seal the capital’s gates to ward off demons.”
“That’s it!”
“He sealed me in a jar, dug a hole in the seam that came apart in the barrier, built a small shrine on top of it, and locked me underground with the utmost care. To put it in a way you can understand, he used me, a specter, to strengthen the barrier.”
“I…see. Sorry, I know this is absurdly basic, but what’s a barrier? Why did he need it?”
Shino looked fed up as he said, “In the principles of yin and yang, the hell’s gate lies in the direction where dark and evil energies congregate, and monsters come and go. I don’t know the logic behind it, but it was certainly relatively easy for us specters to enter and leave the capital through it.”
“So, it’s true, then?”
“These principles are essentially theories…and Tokifuyu said there was some truth to them.”
Masamichi thought hard before asking another question.
“Okay. So, this barrier…protected the capital. And specters could come and go if they found an opening in the seam. But how did it get open?”
“Water,” Shino said clearly.
“Water?”
“At the time, underground water gushed out around the gate to hell on this property. Water nourishes people, but it also attracts apparitions. We specters can easily pass through a barrier if we hide in the water.”
“Is that how it is? So, Tokifuyu lived there and repaired that opening… And he made the barrier even stronger by burying you?”
Shino nodded, his eyebrows furrowed.
“That’s right. He put the mystical power he took from me into the jar and the shrine to seal me. He was a man who played dirty. He also lied and said, ‘The shrine needs something to worship,’ and… Wait.”
Masamichi was startled when Shino suddenly stopped talking. He wondered if the superintendent or a neighbor had seen them standing suspiciously in front of the apartment building and come outside to complain.
But there was no sign of that.
The area was eerily quiet, with only the occasional cyclist or pedestrian crossing the street. They glanced at Shino and Masamichi but passed by without seeming particularly interested in them.
What is going on? Shino’s now staring at the hedges in front of the apartment building…
As Masamichi watched him nervously, Shino said, “There” and suddenly got up close to the hedges and crouched.
“Hey, Shino, that’s someone’s property…”
“Shut up,” he snapped, took off his cardigan, and plunged his short-sleeved arm into the base of the plant.
Oh, God, what on earth are you doing? The superintendent is sure to come out if they see you.
Cold sweat broke out on Masamichi’s back as he stood there helplessly and watched.
“Where is it…? There.”
The sight of Shino crouching, with his long legs folded, and peering into the hedge with his cheek pressed against the ground was too bizarre, even for Masamichi.
He had never seen Shino acting so desperate without caring what anyone thought.
From where Masamichi stood, he couldn’t see what Shino was doing with his hands, but judging by the sound, he seemed to be digging in the soil by the hedges.
“Seriously, Shino, what are you doing…?”
Feeling alarmed, Masamichi heard his voice begin to tremble with anxiety. But Shino didn’t respond. He continued to move his hands around in the dirt.
“Hey, is something the matter?”
Finally, the entrance to the apartment building opened, and a middle-aged man dressed typically as a super in a shirt, slacks, tie, and cardigan appeared.
He must have caught sight of Masamichi from his office. He looked straight at Masamichi and walked up to him, his face clearly tense and alarmed.
“Shino…!”
Masamichi sounded as if he were praying as he called his master, and finally, Shino pulled his hands out of the hedges. They were filthy with mud, and he seemed to be holding something.
“I’m the manager of this apartment building. Do you have some business here? If you’re visiting a resident… Oh! There’s another one.”