Chapter 4:
Middle Age
NEW YEAR’S DAY. I was hoping to spend at least one holiday relaxing at home, but once again, Kazune and Ryou shook me awake first thing in the morning to go celebrate Hatsumode at our local shrine. My wife and I visited this shrine together as part of our yearly tradition, but this year, we were bringing Ryou for the first time.
When she suggested we could go to Usa Jingu this year instead to celebrate the milestone, I balked. As the first-ever Hachiman shrine, Usa Jingu had gone on to inspire 40,000 branch shrines nationwide. Naturally, it received hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Those crowds were pure hell; we did it once before, and I wasn’t eager to repeat the experience. When I reminded her how frustrating and exhausting it was—and how badly we both needed to pee the whole time—she mercifully agreed that we should stick to our usual Inari shrine.
That being said, our usual was still a large shrine in its own right. We took the scenic route through the mountains, avoiding the congested highways, and by the time we arrived, the entrance path was already choked with visitors. It got about a tenth of the foot traffic that Usa Jingu did, but that was still nothing to sneeze at.
Ryou had never seen so many people in one place before and was bouncing with excitement. “Daddy! Look at all the people!”
“Yep, lots of people here. Don’t let go of our hands, okay?”
“Your father’s right, Ryou. Make sure you hold on tight,” my wife said.
To ensure no one would get separated, Kazune and I positioned ourselves on either side of Ryou and progressed slowly through the crowd with our hands joined. We passed through dozens of torii gates, climbed up hundreds of stairs, and by the time we finally reached the hall of worship, it was nearly half an hour later. I couldn’t complain—the same process would have taken over an hour at Usa Jingu. At last, we walked up to the offering box, and I pulled out the money I prepared in advance.
“Ryou, how about you ring that bell for us two or three times?”
“Okay!” He gleefully rang the bell as hard as he could.
Then, once the three of us put our offerings into the box, it was time for the traditional ritual: bow twice, clap twice, bow once. Ryou did his very best to follow along with us, and it was quite precious, if I do say so myself.
“Daddy, what did you wish for?”
We had taught him that people go to shrines in order to make wishes. Sure, it wasn’t completely accurate, but eh, close enough. Granted, I was always told wishes only came true if you kept yours a secret, but in this case, I decided not to worry about it.
“Daddy wished for you and Mommy and Grandma to always be in good health.”
“What about you, Mommy?”
“The same thing, of course. I wished for you and Daddy and Grandma to be healthy. And you?”
“Um… I wished that we could have Salisbury steak for dinner!”
“Again? You really love Mommy’s Salisbury steak, don’t you?” I laughed.
I liked it a lot myself, but we already ate it on a weekly basis. Any more than that probably wasn’t healthy. Granted, Kazune did seem to be making an effort to keep our dinners nutritionally balanced, so while I wanted to gradually wean her off of spoiling him so much, I couldn’t find it in me to protest too strongly.
“Hey Mommy, what’s that drink?”
“It’s called amazake. Have you ever had it?”
“No!”
“You haven’t? Koyomi, should we let him?”
“Is amazake safe for kids? I don’t remember.”
We flagged down a shrine maiden to ask, then stood in line to receive our kid-safe amazake. Since it was a drink made from fermented rice, some of it was alcoholic, but the shrine sold one that wasn’t as well. Anyway, Ryou didn’t seem to like it much sadly. The boy took one sip and grimaced.
After doing our prayers, heading away from the shrine grounds and toward home was a breeze. On our way out, food stalls peeked through the thinning crowds, and naturally Ryou took an immediate interest. I was feeling a little hungry myself too.
“Wanna get some food, Kazune?”
“Good question… Are you hungry, Ryou?”
“Yeah!”
“Okay, let’s get a little something, then.”
With her blessing, I looked around at our options. Festival food could get a little overpriced, so I needed to stay sharp. Letting go of Ryou’s hand, I stopped and checked what I had in my wallet. Meanwhile, he eagerly dragged Kazune off to the food stalls.
And that was when a commotion broke out on the path.
The first thing I heard was murmuring in the crowd. Curious, I looked over to see what was happening. The line of shrinegoers was disorganized, and everyone was looking in the same direction, into the center of the crowd. I couldn’t see much from where I was.
Then, out of nowhere, I heard a man’s enraged roar…and a woman’s scream.
Instantly, the crowd rippled, and people pushed each other like dominoes down a narrow pathway. Those who made it through headed to the food stall plaza for safety. And as the wall of people split, I glimpsed a lone man standing there. At least, I assumed it was a man, but he was wearing sunglasses and a face mask, so I couldn’t be sure.
In his right hand, he clutched a blade that was glistening red.
Screaming wildly, he came charging down the path, waving his weapon. In a blink, his unconcealed malice had warped this peaceful holiday into something straight out of my worst nightmare. I looked around for my family, from whom I was now separated…and my heart nearly stopped.
The man was headed straight for Kazune and Ryou.
His screams grew louder—I think he was saying “Move!”—but frankly, it didn’t matter.
The crowd shrieked. The man bellowed. Kazune dropped to her knees, shielding Ryou with her whole body.
The blade. The red. My legs moved. Fear. Confusion. Anger.
Ryou! Kazune!
I barreled forward blindly and slammed myself into the man with the knife.