Is the Itsuhara house located nearby?
The mother and child I had seen earlier in the museum had immediately pointed toward the forest up the mountain road. Itsu meant “five.” No more buses went out that way, so Miyaki and I had to head there on foot. There was a constant murmur overhead, though it was hard to tell if it was the chafing of the leaves or the tittering of the crows.
“Katagishi. Did you notice? When we were talking to that mother and son earlier, the name tag on the kid’s backpack said ‘Mitsuhara.’”
Mitsu—“three.”
“Yes. The names in this village probably go from Ichihara to Tohara.”
“Ichi to To, like ‘one’ to ‘ten.’ Does that mean the ‘one to ten’ mentioned in the letter and the number five written on that note refer to the families in this village?”
“It seems likely. That’s why I asked where the Itsuhara house is.”
“Not that anything good is going to be waiting for us when we get there… Are you really sure we should go?”
Miyaki exhaled hard. I had a feeling it was more than just the steepness of the hill. I stopped to catch my breath and then turned to face her.
“Miyaki, you don’t need to come with me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Miyaki furrowed her thin eyebrows.
“This case is mostly personal. There’s no reason for you to get wrapped up in it, too.” The sweat soaking into the lining of my suit had cooled, causing it to stick unpleasantly to my back. “Besides, based on experience, I don’t think the people of this village are going to roll over for us if we say we’re here on an official investigation. Instead of approaching this as a public servant, I’m going to use my connection as someone who married into the Rokuhara family. It would probably look strange for me to show up with another woman instead of my wife.”
“…Well, why don’t we just say I’m your little sister?”
“We look nothing alike!”
I tried to laugh, but it didn’t come off as very convincing. Miyaki pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, as she seemed to think. Eventually, she slapped her fist into her hand, all determination once again.
“It’s decided, then. I’ll go with you!”
“Did you hear a thing I just said?”
“You’re not the only one with personal issues when it comes to divine incursions. I need to learn everything I can about them.”
“Personal issues?”
“Something that happened before I started working as your partner.”
Her expression seemed more resigned than stone-faced. The same look I probably got when I talked about Misaki. Like Miyaki knew I wouldn’t understand, even if she tried to explain.
“Besides, I can’t leave you alone, not in this state. You look like you’re about to have a heart attack. You’d probably keel over at the first thing that says ‘boo.’”
I wiped the sweat from my brow and cheeks with a huff.
“I’m just out of breath from smoking too much. Why is this hill so steep?”
“You need to quit smoking.”
Miyaki and I exchanged tired grins and began plodding up the mountain road once more.
At some point, I noticed that the road, which had been devoid of anything except trees until a moment ago, now bore ruts from passing trucks. The road had finally leveled off somewhat and was lined on either side by old-fashioned Japanese homes enclosed by hedges and stone walls. The impression the area gave was aloof and inhospitable. I counted the number of estates along the snaking road. There were ten.
I could hear a guard dog barking wildly in one of the homes, accompanied by the cries of a bird. A mini pickup came rattling down the road, which was already barely wide enough for a compact car. Miyaki and I had to press ourselves up against a wall to get out of its way. As we choked back exhaust fumes, I could feel someone’s eyes on us from above.
A pale-skinned woman who looked to be around thirty was staring down at us from a house at the top of the hill. Her almond eyes and sickly complexion reminded me of Rokuhara. Or of my memories of Misaki. I noticed the sodden nameplate on the house.
“I’m sorry, is this the Itsuhara household…?” The woman stared back at me suspiciously. “I… I’m a recent in-law of the Rokuhara family. I wanted to come to pay my respects…”
As I was still trying to form words, the woman’s dour expression twisted into an immediate smile.
“Well, isn’t that something?! Please,” the woman said, ushering us into her yard.
Other than the parking space, the yard was unpaved. I didn’t care how small this village was; it was strange to be invited in so quickly when we weren’t even immediate family. Although if what Rokuhara had said was true, maybe everyone in this village was related in a way. I shook the thought from my head. Sparse patches of withered baby’s breath and mismatched weeds were poking out of the ground.
“And who might this be?”
Itsuhara stared at Miyaki as she placed her hand on the sliding door.
“This is my younger sister.”
Miyaki nodded briefly. The woman nodded back and opened the door. A daily flip calendar and a few carved wooden figurines were on display in the foyer, which was as spacious as what you would expect to find in a country house.
“Things must have been difficult,” the woman said sympathetically.
“Yes, my wife suddenly fell ill… I wasn’t sure if I should come on my own, since we’d never visited before…”
“That’s not what I meant. The Rokuhara house is gone now, isn’t it? The Rokuhara couple passed away, and nearly all the relatives have died out.”
There was a cold ring to Itsuhara’s words. I gasped slightly. I already knew that Misaki’s parents had passed away, but I did not know about the other relatives.
“Yes, well…”
Itsuhara turned on the lights, proceeding indifferently into the house. We passed through a hallway, the lights faintly visible behind the maze of paper sliding doors, before reaching a tatami-floored room that seemed to be used for receiving guests. The heat was on, but a bony chill clung to the corners of the room due to how large it was.
“Everyone is out at the moment, but they should be returning soon. Please, relax. Your sister as well.”
“No, you’re too kind,” Miyaki said, waving her hand deferentially.
“But you’re also family now,” Itsuhara said, proffering a cushion for her to sit on. “Besides, it’s only right; it’s our watch this year.”
“Your watch?”
Itsuhara sat down across from us, her narrow eyes narrowing even more.
“I really thought this was it for us. With the Rokuharas gone, how were we going to get everyone together? What were we going to do? But now that you’ve joined the family, we can finally endure. You have no idea how much this means.”
I heard the flapping of multiple wings as the black shadows of birds passed in front of the latticed sliding paper door behind the woman.
“My wife hasn’t told me much…but the families here go from Ichihara to Tohara, correct?”
“Yes. We’ve always come together to protect one another when illness and disaster threaten us. A family. Every member counts. Yes, a few outsiders have wormed their way in down by the foot of the mountain. But they’re not like us. They’re not part of the clan.”
There was no light in Itsuhara’s eyes. They appeared notched, as if carved with a blade. I was still struggling for something to respond with, when I heard the front door slide open and the sound of footsteps coming inside.
“Excuse me a moment.”
The woman stood up silently, opened the sliding partition, and leaned out into the hallway.
“Shou, you should say hello when you come home.”
There was a gleam in the dark as someone stared back at us from the hallway’s depths. The head of a gaunt child poked into view. It was the same child who had thrown the crumpled-up note at me earlier. The child glanced my way briefly and then disappeared into the hallway with a tiny patter of feet.
“I was never fortunate enough to have children. Shou was a mistress’s child,” she informed us bluntly.
I wasn’t sure what to say.
“A very strange child. Already ten but barely speaks a word.”
Itsuhara closed the partition and then glanced down at us with a furtive smile.
“It’s very stuffy in here, isn’t it? Why don’t I open the sliding doors on that side?”
The woman walked across the room and opened the partitions leading outside, revealing the exterior veranda and a spacious garden, which was barren except for the dry grass. A crow pecked at the base of some wilted weeds, then fluttered its wings and quickly took flight, as if to run away. Beyond its jet-black wings, I could see a misshapen well fortified in stone.
Itsuhara crouched down and picked up a crow feather before ambling toward the well. Miyaki and I slipped our feet into the leather-soled sandals that were tucked underneath the veranda and followed her.
“Do you get well water here?” Miyaki asked.
Itsuhara, who was standing next to Miyaki, tossed the damp feather into the mouth of the well.
“The well is dried up. This is where we throw away the bad things.”
The woman smiled sweetly. The rain-streaked feather was swallowed up by the cracked stones.
“The village’s spring water flows from farther upstream. You can see the marsh over there, can’t you?”
I strained my eyes, peering in the direction in which Itsuhara was pointing.