Serving a young lady was hard. But he decided to do it, and to do it right.
“Why are you staying here until I sleep?”
“Why…? Because I want to help you fall asleep.”
“Is that fun for you?”
“…No, Nadeshiko…”
He was about to say, Don’t be silly, when the suspicion crossed his mind again.
“…Did nobody put you to bed like this before you became a goddess?”
“When I was taking a nap, the teacher or the babysitter would do it. But at night… No, so that’s why I wondered why. Is it something gods need to do?”
“…”
“People always follow me when I do everything now. It’s so weird.”
It should have been a given for such a young child, yet it wasn’t the case for her.
Rindo’s expression clouded.
“Rindo, will you be with me tomorrow, too?” Nadeshiko asked.
“Huh? Yes, of course.”
“And the day after tomorrow? And the day after that?”
“I’ll be with you as long as you allow me…”
“…Hee-hee. You’re weird.”
It was an odd thing to laugh at, especially when her laughter was so rare. It wasn’t normal for Nadeshiko to have someone around. The goddess always looked sad, like she was somewhere else.
“…”
Rindo found it bothersome to take care of the child; he wished that his job would get easier sooner rather than later, and yet…
“Nadeshiko… Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?”
…the quiet words escaped him.
“That would make me happy… I like you, Rindo.”
Rindo’s head went numb as his lady said that for the first time.
He had begun to discard his suspicions, but now he was picking them back up again.
If he was right, then it solved the mystery of why this young goddess acted the way she did.
The day after, he asked seriously:
“…Excuse me, Nadeshiko. I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Were your parents strict?”
“Mmm.”
“Were you always eating and sleeping by yourself? It’s normal for adults to mind children your age. That is why I don’t let you be alone.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s not because you’re a goddess. It’s because you’re five. You can’t be left alone too much. You need to be protected by the adults so you can have fun and grow up healthy.”
“So that’s why you do all that for me?”
“Yes! But then you always…!”
“Other families do that?”
“…I would say they should. At the very least, they wouldn’t treat you like this in my house. The only time a child your age would be left alone is when they’re being punished.”
“I didn’t know…”
Now Nadeshiko looked hurt.
“…But…but then it’s because I’m a bad kid.”
“You? You’re an angel compared to the little terrors in my family.”
“No, I’m bad. I’m embarrassing and do bad things that get me in trouble.”
“Kids your age can’t really do anything too bad…”
“No, I’m bad… Kids who don’t listen get left in the mountains, right? I don’t want to. I don’t want you to think I’m embarrassing, too.”
Left in the mountains. A stereotypical thing an adult would tell a naughty child.
“…Nadeshiko, no one would actually do that. I don’t think it’s a nice thing to say to a kid, but my grandfather said it to me, too… That’s how it is with older generations…”
Right as he was about to tell her no one would actually abandon a child out in the mountains, Nadeshiko beamed happily.
Like she had found something in common with him for the first time.
“Oh, really? They left you the mountains, too?”
Nadeshiko was happy, but time stopped for Rindo.
“…What?”
The air froze over. The two participants in this conversation were misunderstanding each other.
“It was so hard… There are no mountains near my house, so when I got down, I was in a strange town. I was lost until a stranger helped me…”
“…”
“And that’s how I got back home. What about you?”
“…”
“Were you scared? Did you end up okay?”
“…”
“…Rindo?”
Her innocent smile filled him with dread.
The child didn’t even know the name of what she had gone through.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that she had been abused.
Later, he investigated the time when Nadeshiko Iwaizuki had been taken into custody in Teishu.
Thankfully, a civilian found her the same day she was abandoned, and National Security had gone out to reprimand her parents. The incident was erased from records, but the Town still filed a complaint.
Rindo felt like he was about to faint when he found out the reason they had driven all the way to a mountain and abandoned her near Teito was because she threw up on the floor.
This isn’t right.
There was no denying that some children misbehaved.
Being a parent wasn’t easy, either. Young children can’t be controlled, and nothing can stop a tantrum.
Naturally, raising a child sometimes makes a parent feel like they’re losing their mind. And Nadeshiko’s parents both worked long hours in the Four Seasons Agency. She didn’t have any grandparents nearby, so they could only rely on childcare facilities and babysitters. Rindo wanted to believe that their distress was just what happened sometimes.
But this isn’t it. There’s nothing worth trusting about her parents.
He looked into the daycare and babysitters, and they all said Nadeshiko was a very good and obedient girl. It only deepened his suspicions that her parents were neglecting her. Although there was no violence involved, she was commonly ignored and forsaken, denied food, and subjected to other forms of excessive discipline. Hence why she did not grumble once about being taken away from her parents out of the blue.
Nadeshiko was forbidden from complaining or talking back. She had to do whatever the adults said.
Her parents always told her not to embarrass them in public. She must have been inadequate in their eyes. Even though that was just what children were like.
This is Yamato’s Autumn.
The goddess Rindo was charged with protecting thought she was embarrassing. Poor thing.
His lady asked so many questions, not because she was disgusted, but because she was confused.
“Why do you hold my hand?”
Others in the honden should have noticed the signs that something was wrong.
Yet Rindo received no reports. Maybe they were all pretending not to see.
“Why do you eat lunch with me?”
They concluded it would be the Guard’s responsibility whenever they were appointed.
Nadeshiko was an eerie girl. The scary goddess of Life Putrefaction. A tool for maintaining the structure of the world.
They ignored her unknowing cries for help.
“Why do you do that for me?”
Looking after a child so seriously didn’t suit Rindo. He could better pretend he didn’t see it.
He could push her to survive on her own.
Children are flawed and slow. Ignorant of malice. She should be okay.
We lived through harsher times.
“It’s not like that in your house?”
So she should be fine, too.
She asked why again and again.
Nadeshiko didn’t do it to be mean to Rindo; she was worried that she might get yelled at. Looking back, indeed, she was just asking.
She was only afraid of the punishment that could come if she accepted. She suspected that someone might be bothered if she broke that house’s rules.
She asked if he wouldn’t get in trouble if she broke the rules.
A person who lived under the threat of punishment tried to protect themselves by always assuming the worst.
Unlike in the big city of Teishu, her new house in the Town of Autumn was surrounded by nature.
Everyone around her was an adult. The young child must have assumed…
…Oh, they’re going to throw me out in the mountains again.
She had once walked down a dark mountain.
She must have wailed and cried until she realized that nobody cared about her.
All because she was embarrassing.
“Oh, they didn’t throw you out? That’s good to hear.”
So she always responded carefully.
“I’m glad you were happy.”