“You know, you didn’t have to get so angry earlier. You scared me, too.”
They had finished eating and bathing and putting Sae to bed, and Miyoko was still upset with Mitsuhiro about earlier.
“I said I’m sorry,” Mitsuhiro said, sipping some sparkling water in the dining room. He was getting fed up with Miyoko’s repeated lecturing, but Miyoko seemed to be equally frustrated by not being taken seriously.
He wanted to lay his sheaf of documents out on the table right now, but not while Miyoko was still in a bad mood. Normally, she’d enjoy the kinds of challenges Mitsuhiro was wrangling with right now, as she had the other night…but when she wasn’t, she’d start nagging him about “bringing his work home” and so on.
The government had recently approved the so-called Zero Overtime Pay Bill, something proposed by the business community. To be honest, Mitsuhiro didn’t know if it was a good thing or not.
Even before the bill was passed, Shimaoka had been working to eliminate overtime, and thanks to that, Mitsuhiro usually left work at five PM sharp each day. But the fact remained that this was such a radical departure from their previous MO that not even the department heads and division managers really knew how to react. The talking-head experts on TV said that the bill would eliminate not only overtime pay but also potentially any limits to the number of working hours. The big move had caused chaos within the IR team for a while, too. Even Mitsuhiro could see that if this resulted in a big drop in salary, it could affect their ability to cover their mortgage, even with both him and his wife working full-time.
However, the management team, including the chairman and his board, repeatedly assured employees that there would be no pay cuts as a result of this, which helped assuage some of the concerns. The loss of overtime pay, they said, would be compensated in the form of bonuses, benefits, and after-hours training.
But measures like these were something only a huge company like Shimaoka could afford, and it was all bound to shake out differently from department to department, so the confusion was likely to continue for some time.
“Hey, is something bothering you? Is that why you’re so tensed up?”
Miyoko’s question only served to further irritate Mitsuhiro. He thought he was free of worries now, but at this rate, she’d make him talk about all the weird stuff he’d seen—those countless footprints. Even though they were gone now. As if they’d never been.
“Am I tensed up?”
“Yes, you’ve been like this all day. You haven’t been listening to me. Don’t you realize Sae is scared you’re going to scream at her again?”
“No… I didn’t. Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Really? Are you sure you’re not worried about anything?”
Miyoko’s genuine concern was evident. Mitsuhiro smiled, not wanting her anxiety to rub off on him. He wished she would just go to bed already.
“Did you have a problem with the contractors over that underground ritual hall?”
“No, not that.”
Mitsuhiro thought about discussing Tamai Construction’s strange behavior and what he had seen in his tour of that site. But he decided against it because he didn’t think he could make it sound like something to laugh off. This wasn’t funny at all, in fact. He was facing the possibility of being exposed to some kind of…thing because of what he did in the East Wing basement.
Miyoko frowned. It was half directed at Mitsuhiro and half at the kitchen.
“Ugh, it still smells weird. How many times do I have to wipe it down?”
She was talking about the microwave. Mitsuhiro didn’t really notice it anymore, that weird odor that floated in with the dry air. He didn’t know if it had faded or if he was starting to become numb to it.
Mitsuhiro stood up and turned on the kitchen exhaust fan again.
“We can buy a new microwave, okay? You should calm down a little, too. I’m just kind of tired. I’m sorry if I’m being irritable…”
Suddenly, Mitsuhiro was startled by a small figure in the dark hallway.
“Ah… Sae?”
Miyoko stood up from the dining room table.
“Oh, is she awake?”
Before Mitsuhiro could answer, Sae came into the kitchen, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“I want some water,” she muttered as she passed Mitsuhiro and headed for the sink. Ignoring Miyoko, who had stood up to fetch a cup, she climbed up on her stool and turned on the faucet with the water purifier attached to it. She was trying to drink directly from it.
Just like in the dream.
Mitsuhiro instinctively reached out and grabbed Sae’s shoulder to stop her. In his mind, he imagined himself rushing to get the fire extinguisher.
No matter where I sleep, I smell fire. I’m completely cursed now. Please don’t let me die in these flames.
Something terrible was about to happen, just like in that post.
“What’s wrong, Sae?” said Miyoko. “You gotta use a cup.”
Sae took the cup from her mother. Mitsuhiro let go of her and stared intently as she held it under the stream. He could feel his heart savagely beating. His mind was ordering him to go get the fire extinguisher at once, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his daughter.
Miyoko turned off the tap, looked up, and frowned in surprise when she noticed Mitsuhiro.
“What’s wrong? What is it?”
Sae gulped down the water.
Then she suddenly clutched her throat, reared back, and fell off the stool.
She collapsed onto the floor, and the sound followed the loud clatter of a glass dropping into the sink. Miyoko screamed.
“Sae?!”
Miyoko hurriedly tried to lift Sae up, and Mitsuhiro also jumped in to help. But Sae recoiled violently, scratching at her throat with both hands and kicking her legs wildly.
“What’s wrong? You can’t breathe? Sae!”
Miyoko called out to her, but Sae kept struggling and making thin, wheezing sounds.
“I’ll call an ambulance!”
Mitsuhiro jumped over to the dining room and grabbed his phone from the table. He dialed 119, held the phone to his ear, and waited for a response, his heart pounding so wildly that he felt like it’d burst out of his chest.
“Tokyo Fire Department. Is this a fire or medical emergency?”
“M-medical! My daughter’s…”
“Keep calm and tell me your location.”
Mitsuhiro quickly gave the address.
“What’s happening?”
“M-my daughter was drinking water and suddenly collapsed. She’s scratching at her throat, and she can’t breathe.”
“Has this ever happened to her before?”
“No, it’s the first time.”
“Any serious illness in the past?”
“No.”
“Does she have a regular doctor?”
“Yes, a GP and a dentist in the neighborhood.”
“Have they treated her for anything?”
“Just things like colds and dental work.”
“Okay. Can you give me your full name and the full name of your daughter?”
“My name is Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. My daughter is Sae Matsunaga.”
“Please give me the number you’re calling from.”
Mitsuhiro answered the questions, trying to resist the urge to shout at them to get their asses over here. He knew just standing there watching Sae struggle in the kitchen and Miyoko frantically call out to her would accomplish nothing, so he paused to put on a hoodie. With his phone still pressed to his ear, he stuffed his wallet and keys into its pockets.
“An ambulance is on its way now. Please have someone go outside to meet them. When the ambulance arrives, wave to them and guide them into your home. If anything changes with her condition in the meantime, please let them know.”
“All right.” Mitsuhiro ended the call. “The ambulance is coming. I’ll go outside and wait for them.”
“I’ll go too.”
“You should watch Sae. I’ll guide the paramedics in.”
“She’ll be in the ambulance faster if we take her with us.”
“I don’t know if we should move her around…”
But Miyoko was trying to pick Sae up anyway, so Mitsuhiro hurriedly took her place. Following the emergency evacuation training he had received at work, he held her sideways, ensuring she could breathe more easily. He tilted her head back and bent her legs and upper body into a C shape, holding her tightly so she wouldn’t fall, and rushed to the front door with Miyoko. Twisting his feet into his shoes, he went out through the door that Miyoko opened for him.
While Miyoko locked the front door with her key, Mitsuhiro hurried down the hallway toward the elevator lobby.
“You’ll be in an ambulance soon, Sae. Hang in there.”
He spoke to her, but all he could hear was the sound of her desperately trying to breathe—huff, huff, huff, huff. Nothing could be more terrifying. He could say with absolute certainty that it was the worst experience of his life, hoping that his daughter would just continue to breathe for him.
He had just pressed the elevator button with his elbow when Miyoko caught up with him. The doors opened immediately, and both parents got in, still trying to soothe Sae as they went down to the first floor. Even then, the smell lingered in his nose, but Mitsuhiro was in no state to pay much mind to it.
They left the lobby of the building and waited for the ambulance in the stifling air, shivering as if they were about to freeze in the cold. Once they heard the siren, Mitsuhiro’s eyes filled with tears.
“The ambulance is here, Sae! There it is!”
The sound grew louder and louder, and then the ambulance appeared from around the corner with its lights flashing. Miyoko supported her large belly with one hand and waved the other wildly.
The ambulance stopped, and two paramedics got out with a stretcher and rushed over.
“I’m Mitsuhiro Matsunaga. This is my daughter, Sae Matsunaga.”
“Okay, we’ll take her.”
The two paramedics laid Sae on the stretcher and immediately carried her into the ambulance.
“Are you riding along?”
Mitsuhiro and Miyoko nodded without hesitation.
Several residents of the building came out to see what was happening, while passersby stopped and looked in their direction. Mitsuhiro helped Miyoko into the ambulance, then quickly climbed in after her.