THE second he’d finished reading, Sei slammed the book shut. As he did, a cloud of dust assaulted him for his rough handling.
His eyebrow twitched in irritation at the onslaught of dust.
I knew it, Sei thought as he stared at the nearby candlestick.
The wax of the burned-out candlestick had taken on a strange shape and was clearly past its working life as a candle.
If he just laughed it off as impossible, that would be it. It was easy to tell himself that other dimensions didn’t exist. But if he did that, he’d be batting Yura’s hand away, thrusting her further into darkness.
But this story was every bit as crazy as it sounded.
He was like a wind-up doll.
If you wind the doll up, they’ll repeat the same movements for a fixed time. But when they’ve used up all their momentum, they’ll stop moving, and they grow silent.
Then the next time you lift the arm and wind it up, it does the same thing all over again. Just going in circles.
Even as he tried to think, his brain stopped, and with a bitter impatience, he finally hit a dead end. Then he’d start back at the beginning, mulling it all over again and again.
He finally stood up.
How does one believe in something they can’t see…?
He picked the book up once more and turned to make his way to the entrance. He remembered the past while he walked. A memory from the distant past. When he was very young. Most of his memories were painful ones…
One memory came to mind. His father hugging him and speaking to him as he sobbed.
Because he’d been born looking the way he did, it was always like that. He was always being chased by people throwing rocks at him. There weren’t many who accepted him, save for the father who’d raised him.
“You don’t believe in what you can’t see? What a thing to say…”
His hoarse voice echoed in Sei’s mind.
At that time, he’d been deeply hurt. He had no faith left to give. Everyone hated him. Mocked him. Humans were brutal, cruel, and repulsive creatures.
Sei couldn’t take it anymore. Shaken, the father had asked his child. He peered right into his eyes.
“So then, why do you trust me?”
At that time, Sei couldn’t answer. He didn’t answer. He just stared at him through misty eyes, searching. For an answer.
“Well…it’s because…you raised me…you took care of me.”
Sei stopped walking. He released a great heaving laugh.
That’s right. And then Dad said…
“That’s right. So, you can see it then.”
He could. The problem had been that he himself hadn’t believed he could.
“Just as you feel affection for me,” he’d said. “It’s all in your eyes. In your words, your attitude, everything.”
The truth had been there the whole time.
The book he’d been studying slipped from his fingers startling him back to the present. He tried to think back to when they’d first met. To how those eyes had peered directly into him. Yura’s keen eyes were clear and true. There wasn’t a hint of deceit.
“Please believe me.”
The memory flashed through his mind. The way she stood before him, reaching for him, blocking his path. Her cheeks red, she was shouting in desperation…
Were her eyes clouding over? He knew the answer.
Sei chuckled.
“I can’t believe it.”
He knelt and scooped up the book. As he did, an illustration caught his eye. The beautiful book had golden ornamentation that shined. That light shining in his eyes made him think. He was always frowning. But today, he felt surprisingly warm.
It wasn’t something easy to believe. But he didn’t think it was a lie either. In that case…
✦ ✦ ✦
MEANWHILE…
Standing in the hall, Yura tried to calm her nerves. She’d run away, throwing herself through the door.
A fleeing hare would have been much cuter, Yura thought as she panted. Th-that was close…
She touched her cheek and gritted her teeth.
I…I can’t believe it… Yura thought, I can’t believe he would do something like that.
Ashes is a womanizer… I thought he was a good person… Yura glared at the ground and groaned.
I guess I need to be careful around him? She filed Ashes away as a suspicious person in the corner of her mind. She thought she finally had some answers, but things had only gotten more confusing.
My problems just continue to increase.
Looking up, she began to feel the weight of the day collapsing down on her. Exhaustion was quick to overwhelm her tired body. Her thoughts had become completely tangled up. Like individual bits of string, all tangled in one massive knot. And there seemed to be no way to undo it.
Sei’s face crept like a shadow into her mind, and she began to feel uneasy.
Did he really believe me? Her anxiety was becoming unbearable. Trying to ease the sensation that she’d no one to turn to, Yura shook her head and tried to destroy these horrible doubts.
She’d heard two bells before coming to this place. She blinked. She could only rely on her hearing to tell time in this strange new world. One interval was marked with a bell, about once every three hours. Doing the math from midday, that’d mean six, then nine hours. So then, the next bell would be the evening or sunset bell.
It’ll be all right. As long as I don’t get lost.