Mitsuhiro wanted to collapse from exhaustion as well, but he had a duty to bring Sae back to the surface. He couldn’t allow himself to pass out.
“Hara…put the chain around that man’s legs. And we need to stop the bleeding…”
“What? Ohh, ahh, he’s badly hurt!”
Yoshikazu Hara wrapped the shackle tightly around Araki’s right leg, locking it in place. It wasn’t the politest thing to do, but it both restrained him and provided a kind of lifesaving measure. Without the chain, Araki or someone else could pull the stone out of his thigh, resulting in massive blood loss.
“Can you take that girl upstairs for me?” Mitsuhiro asked, using Araki’s shovel to get to his feet.
“Ahh, she sure is sick. I hate that she fell down in here. Okay, okay, I’ll carry her up.”
Yoshikazu Hara pulled the stepladder over, unfolded it, and placed it so the sides were flush against the wall. Then he easily lifted up the still-convulsing Sae onto his shoulder and quickly climbed the ladder. If it weren’t for his dementia, he’d still be perfectly capable of working in construction.
Leaving Sae with Yoshikazu Hara, Mitsuhiro cleaned up the scene and endured the pain as best he could. He put the handkerchief and the smaller stone in his pocket, picked up the amulet, and placed it in Araki’s hand. A loud, painful groan escaped from Araki’s mouth, but he didn’t wake up.
The next task was the most difficult one. He had to climb out of that hole by himself. Clinging to the stepladder, he climbed up step by step, pushing through the pain in his head and right shoulder, not to mention the leg that had taken two clean hits from the shovel. He was nervous that he’d pass out from his concussion halfway up, but he managed to reach the edge of the hole safely.
When he looked up, he saw Sae and Yoshikazu Hara standing in front of the shrine. The table with the paper streamers on it had been knocked over, and Sae was lying on the floor. As he approached the table, he noticed the same clean air as when he first came here.
He didn’t know if Yoshikazu Hara had done it on purpose, but now that she was near the shrine, Sae’s condition had improved dramatically. Her convulsions had subsided, and her breathing was calm. Another moment later, her eyes snapped open, and once she recognized Mitsuhiro, she got up with a loud cry.
“Daddy?!”
Yoshikazu Hara smiled broadly. “She’s feelin’ better!”
Mitsuhiro couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
“I’m here to pick you up, Sae. How are you feeling? Can you walk?”
“Um, I think I’m okay. But, Daddy, you’re all white. Did you fall? Are you hurt?”
Just as Sae had said, his jacket and pants were covered in ash from rolling around at the bottom of the hole. Mitsuhiro nodded at Sae. His next “curse” would come from Miyoko if he came home looking like this.
“Yeah, a little. Sae, do you remember when you came here?”
“Mmm, I dunno. Oh! I thought you came in a car to pick me up. But it wasn’t you.”
Mitsuhiro nodded again, took Sae’s hand with his good one, and helped her down from the table.
“Let’s talk about it when we leave here. Hara, too…”
But Yoshikazu Hara shook his head firmly. “I have to work here. I have to wait for Mr. Tamai to come. Thanks for bringing me here, though.”
Mitsuhiro didn’t know what to say, so he just bowed his head. Then he suddenly remembered something. He took the key for the chain lock from his pants pocket and handed it to Yoshikazu Hara. Then he took Sae’s hand, still suffering from his sore right shoulder and leg, and together they left the ritual hall.
He turned on his phone flashlight, handed it to Sae so she could light the way, and climbed the stairs, counting the steps as he held her hand. He was constantly alert, wondering when the smoke would start to fill the air and where the fire would break out. If that happened, he planned to quickly give Sae the handkerchief in his pocket, tell her to cover her mouth, and hurry her upstairs. He knew he wouldn’t be able to run up, so he’d lag far behind her. He might even collapse in the smoke. But he wanted to get Sae to safety.
However, there was no fire. Nothing blocked Mitsuhiro and Sae’s way, and they were able to climb all 177 steps, panting for breath.
鎭
When they passed the wall with the character, Mitsuhiro took the phone back, and they climbed the temporary stairway together.
At the top awaited a wall of people. There were construction workers who were waiting impatiently in the office, along with two detectives, one of whom introduced himself as Kitagawa. Yoshio Tamai from Tamai Construction was there, along with the two other employees he had met at their office. Behind them, Miyoko rushed out, crouched down, and hugged Sae as if she would never let her go.
“Sae! Oh, thank heavens! Sae!”
Sae was taken aback by her mother’s intense relief and looked up at Mitsuhiro. “Was I lost?”
Mitsuhiro couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s okay now,” he said, stroking Sae’s head.
Kitagawa approached, giving Mitsuhiro a once-over, but said nothing.
“The man who took Sae is in the underground ritual hall.”
Kitagawa didn’t react to Mitsuhiro’s words. “For now,” he simply said, “let’s get you to the hospital. Your daughter is pretty pale, too.”
Grateful for his offer, Mitsuhiro followed their lead. They left the site and got into the back seat of the car Miyoko had been given a ride in, Sae sitting between them.
Miyoko put her arm around Sae’s shoulder and touched Mitsuhiro’s ash-stained cheek. “Mr. Tamai said he was sorry for the trouble they caused you.”
Mitsuhiro groggily nodded.
“The detectives barely listened to me,” she whispered, frowning. “They just kept asking Mr. Tamai questions. They asked if he was going down to the basement, and he just said all they could do was wait for someone to come up from there… What was that all about?”
Mitsuhiro squeezed Miyoko’s hand with his free one. “There must be some reason for it. I’ll ask him what happened.”
“And then you’ll tell me what happened, okay?”
Looking into Miyoko’s tearful eyes, Mitsuhiro wondered if he could. But he relented.
“I’ll tell you everything. It’s all right now.”