Chapter 3: The Hidden House on Tono Mountain

Chapter 3:
The Hidden House on Tono Mountain

 

“OH? Now just where did you get in from?”

A single glimmerfly fluttered about the room. Perhaps a window had been left open somewhere.

The lost butterfly scattered its phosphorescent light wildly, ignoring my presence. I thought it beautiful—fleeting and phantasmal as it was. I could have stared for all eternity and never grown tired of it.

The butterfly came to rest on my finger, and I smiled. “Would you like to eat too? …Oh, right. I guess you can’t.”

I watched as it fluttered away and grinned wryly at myself, then looked down at the steaming-hot baked sweet potatoes on the low table of the living room.

Baked sweet potato, one of autumn’s many seasonal treats. In the human world, stalls selling these would pop up throughout towns the moment things became the slightest bit chilly. Such stalls were characteristic of the season itself.

In terms of outer appearance alone, baked sweet potato was unassuming. It wasn’t until you peeled away its skin and revealed the luxuriously fluffy golden goodness inside that it took your breath away. Reminiscent of the fields during harvest season, baked sweet potatoes were sweet enough to make one suspect sugar was somehow added inside. You could easily keep snacking away, well aware you were spoiling your dinner as you carelessly reached out for another.

Here too in the spirit realm, baked sweet potato stalls popped up once autumn came. They were managed as a side business by Azuki-arai spirits, spirits that washed beans near rivers and waited for people to fall in. Typically, the Azuki-arai spirits sold azuki beans, but once autumn rolled around, they started selling baked sweet potatoes too.

Once the Azuki-arai began to sing, “Will I grind my azuki beans, or will I find a person to eat?”—an old song they were known to sing in folktales—all the spirits grabbed their wallets and rushed out their doors. The streets flooded with throngs of people at these times, all crowded around the stalls with eager smiles. Not even spirits could resist the scrumptious sugary smell of sweet potatoes being baked.

Of course, I wasn’t exempt from the sweet potato’s allure either and had lined up the instant I heard the Azuki-arai’s song. I bought a large and a small one, but needed something to drink to help me eat the dry, heavy meal. So, I prepared some green tea, as the bitter taste would pair well with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. Making the tea was a simple matter, as the teapot and cups were already set out and only needed hot water.

The tempting smell of sweet potato filled the room, making me want to dig in that very moment. But I didn’t. The man I planned to eat with, Shinonome-san, was not home yet.

“He said he’d be back today…” I shot a look up at the clock on the wall. Shinonome-san had abruptly left three days ago, saying he would be home this day.

I sighed. The paper bag holding the baked sweet potatoes was starting to get soggy from moisture.

I had the Azuki-arai pick out the best ones for me, and now they’re going to be all mushy…

Feeling gloomy, I put my chin on the low dining table and went slack.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. The ticking of the clock echoed throughout the room. There were no customers in the bookstore, and Nyaa-san had gone off somewhere to play. The ever-bustling house seemed almost alien in its present silence.

I heard children playing in the distance. Not wanting to listen, I got up and tried to distract myself. I hobbled around the room aimlessly in search of something to do, before eventually peering into Shinonome-san’s room. Normally, I saw him from behind, locked in battle with his manuscripts, but right now, the only thing at his desk was a well-flattened sitting cushion.

I sighed again. It wasn’t unusual for my adoptive father to leave home on a whim for days at a time, but he’d been absent for oddly long and frequent stretches of time of late. I couldn’t recall if we had sat down and talked even a single time in the past month.

What could he be doing? Is it something he can’t tell me about?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard the sliding door open.

“Shinonome-san?” I spun around to look. But once I realized the one standing there wasn’t him, I let my shoulders droop. “…Oh, it’s just you, Suimei…”

“Is that a problem…?” Standing by the door connecting the bookshop to the living space was Suimei. He narrowed his light-brown eyes with displeasure, then walked in like he lived here. “Today too?”

“Yup…” I gave him the same answer I’ve given him each time the past few days.

Suimei took one of the sitting cushions from the corner of the room, folded it in half, and lay down, using it as a pillow—as he had done many times recently.

“Want something to drink?” I asked.

He didn’t respond.

“Hello? Earth to Suimei-kuuun?”

He still didn’t respond. I sneaked a glance at his face and noticed that I could hear him snoozing quietly. A smile burst out of me—I was amazed that he could fall asleep so quickly—and I brought him a blanket.

Ever since he’d finished the job Yao Bikuni gave him, Suimei had occasionally come over to my house to sleep. I didn’t know why he did this, but he had said something about wanting to get used to sleeping in a place where he was comfortable to start. I’d told Noname about all this, but she’d just said, “Take care of him,” and, “He’s trying to come to terms with this world in his own way,” her smile gentle.

I prodded Suimei’s body with a finger. “So…are you finally starting to warm up to us?” He didn’t respond, being already sound asleep.

Suddenly, the events of a few days back came to mind, and I blushed. The sky had been oddly bright then. Thinking back on it, I often saw Noname and Shinonome-san together on such days. Anyway, Noname had asked me to go see Suimei after I visited her apothecary for dinner. I’d found him on the small island as a massive swarm of glimmerflies was fluttering about.

Something had been strange about the island that day. The nuns that worked there were crying, and there were far more glimmerflies than usual. The glimmerflies also seemed to be gathered around the nuns, even though as far as I knew, the insects were only ever drawn to humans.

While I was wondering what was going on, I noticed Suimei talking to Yao Bikuni and called out to him. But the moment I saw his face, I thought my heart might implode. It was as though I were looking at my past self, the one from that summer day, surrounded by the summer cries of the cicada, who had just held two friends as they passed away in her arms. I’d wanted to cry so badly then, but I had been unable to. A strange warmth had smoldered inside me, my emotions wanting to explode but having no outlet by which to do so. It had hurt so much that I had stopped breathing. I never wanted to experience such a thing again.

Suimei’s face in that moment was exactly the same as the one I had made then. I didn’t know what had happened to him, but I couldn’t just do nothing. The words were out my mouth before I knew it: “Let me say it this time… ‘Just let go and cry…dummy.’”

I moved on impulse and hugged him. I just couldn’t stand not doing so. I wanted to comfort his heart just like he had comforted mine.

Ba-dum, ba-dum. As he trembled, letting his warm tears fall, I wondered—was that pounding heart I heard his or mine?

“Ah, my face feels so warm…” I tried to fan my sweaty face with my hands and thought back to what had happened afterward. After he stopped crying, he had explained a bit about what happened.

“I met my mother,” was all he said, but that was enough. I knew that lake was a place where injured human souls gathered. His mother must have been one of those souls, and Yao Bikuni must have brought the two together.

I watched as Suimei slept peacefully now, his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. With his eyes closed, I could clearly make out the length of his eyelashes. He had the handsome features of a prince, straight out of a fairy tale. I imagine he would’ve lived a very different life if he weren’t born into a line of exorcists.

“It must have been tough,” I murmured. From the bottom of my heart, I hoped Suimei could live a life happier than any other. One to make up for all the pain he had endured…a hundred, no, a thousand times over. Yes, for example, a life where he could make a family with someone he truly loved…

I halted that train of thought the moment it crossed my mind and recalled Suimei’s earlier words: “When I’m with you, my chest feels weird.”

“Aaaahhh! N-nonononono!” I shook my head vigorously, trying to shake the memory away. I hugged my knees and shut my eyes to try and calm down, but my mind wouldn’t stop racing. “Ugh… What in the world’s going on?”

I let out a grand sigh and then looked toward the shop. “…‌Shinonome-san, just where could you be?”

I wanted to meet that adoptive father of mine right this instant so I could ask him just what these chaotic feelings inside of me were. Why was he never around when I needed him…? Even though he never left me alone when I didn’t need him.

It felt like it had been an eternity since I had chatted with him. We only ever made meaningless small talk, but even that was dearly missed.

“I’m definitely going to chew him out once he gets home.” I pouted my lips as I strained my ears so I wouldn’t miss the sound of the sliding door being opened.

But in the end, Shinonome-san never did come home that day, and the baked sweet potatoes on the table went cold.

 

The next day came. I had just met up with Nyaa-san in the spirit realm after finishing my part-time job in the human world.

“Is Shinonome-san back?!”

“And hello to you too, Kaori.” Nyaa-san wagged her three tails and narrowed her mismatched sky-blue and gold eyes. “He’s back.”

“Wait, really?! You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Would I lie to you?”

“Uh, if the past is any indication, yes.”

“Humph. You got me there.” She spun around and lowered herself. “Want to ride me over?”

“Really?!”

“I’m in the mood to see you scold your father. Nobody hurts my best friend and gets away with it.” Nyaa-san’s body then expanded before my eyes. Her muscles and bones creaked as she grew from an ordinary cat to a massive, nimble, tiger-like beast.

I drove my face into her soft black fur. “I love you, Nyaa-san!”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just get going.”

“I even love that callousness of yours!”

“Oh, give me a break.”

I hopped onto her back and held on as tight as I could. She took off at a blinding speed, weaving between the spirits coming and going. The scenery shot by, and even the glimmerflies that normally swarmed me trailed far, far behind. The spirits who noticed us coming stepped out of the way, allowing Nyaa-san to continue without slowing down. Spirits doing far crazier things was nothing out of the ordinary here in the spirit realm, so nobody so much as batted an eye at us.

“Are you not stopping by today, Miss Strangeling?” called out the fish dealer I always visited. He was a type of Kappa spirit called Hyosube, from the mountain regions of Miyazaki and Kumamoto.

Taking care not to fall off, I turned toward the Hyosube and yelled, “Sorry! No time!”

“Oh, gotcha! Swing by later then! I got some nice freshwater fish in, hi hi hi!” he said with the characteristic strange Hyosube laugh. The fish at his shop were always varied and plentiful. I was a regular enough customer that he always had what I wanted ready before I walked up.

I waved goodbye to him and promised to swing by later.

“Why not stop by, Kaori-chan?” Noppera-bo called.

“We got some new autumnal sweets in!” his wife called as well. “You should come take a look too, Nyaa-san!”

“We will! Just not now!” I said, taking care not to bite my tongue. Similar exchanges continued until we reached the bookstore.

Too eager to wait for Nyaa-san to come to a complete stop, I leapt off her, stumbled a bit, and then flung the door open. I saw a shadow on the floor of the old, dingy shop and called, “Shinonome-san?!”

The owner of the shadow stepped out from behind a bookshelf and said, “Oh, Kaori.” He scratched his stubble and smiled. “It’s been a while.”

“You’re back…” My anger deflated like a balloon the moment I saw his smile, instead replaced by pure joy. I was simply glad to have him back.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to chew him out, of course.

I approached, fully intent on giving him an earful, when my toes bumped into something. I looked down to see piles of books lying on the floor.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve left a mess.” He stared at the shop’s book-lending ledger with a deathly serious look on his face, scribbling something with a brush.

Curious, I looked over his shoulder. On the ledger were the titles of many books in one column and his name all along the borrower column. “Are you taking those books somewhere?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm. Need ’em for a bit.” He didn’t so much as glance up at me as he compared the title on the ledger with the books lying around.

“I see…” Seeing nothing better to do, I decided to put away my things. Normally, I would have then started to bring in the laundry and get dinner ready, but…today I wanted to be with Shinonome-san as much as possible.

Come to think of it, Noppera-bo’s wife had said they had those new sweets. She and Noppera-bo ran the best confectionery in the spirit realm, and right around now was the time special sweets made with autumnal fruits started to appear.

It is around snack time right now… Maybe I should go buy some sweets for us to eat? I got a bit excited at the thought and rushed to grab my wallet. I opened the door connecting the living space to the shop but froze upon seeing my father.

“Hup, and up we go.” He lifted a large cloth bundle onto his back, within which I could make out the outline of a large volume of books. In his hands, he carried a timeworn travel bag that didn’t pair well with his Japanese clothes. The travel bag, the leather of which was cracking from lack of care, had been a favorite of his for years. It was stuffed to the brim and even had a paper umbrella tied to the handle. He was clearly going somewhere.

“Oh…” I quietly mumbled.

That got his attention. His gray eyes smiled a bit. He then walked up to me and roughly tousled my hair. “I’ll be heading out for a few days again. You can go ahead and close the shop on the days you’ve got your part-time job.”

I didn’t say anything back.

“Sorry I’ve been leaving the shop in your hands so much lately. I’ll make it up to you, promise.”

The smell of tobacco and body odor tickled my nose, a harsh scent that I had grown fond of over the years.

Saying nothing further, he patted my head twice and left the shop.

Thunk. The sound of a sliding door closing echoed throughout the empty bookstore.

 

“So that’s why you’ve come here, then.” Noname looked at me with some astonishment.

On the table at the center of the flowery courtyard were a few hot and steaming meals. We had salt-grilled sweetfish that had been caught by traditional sweetfish traps as they traveled to the mouth of an estuary to lay eggs; glistening fresh white rice, picked just this year and cooked in an earthenware pot; pickled eggplant; rolled omelet—Noname’s specialty; and a hearty miso soup. For dessert, we had Noppera-bo’s wife’s persimmon yokan. Each and every item looked absolutely delicious, and yet…

“Shinonome-san’s a dummy…” Because of my bad mood, I couldn’t work up an appetite, despite the smorgasbord of autumnal flavors laid out before me.

Nyaa-san, who was busying herself with sniffing a grilled fish, said, “I can’t believe you still took the time to stop by the neighbors to shop. You should’ve just come straight here like I said.”

“Well, I promised I would stop by, and you can’t break promises…”

“Didn’t the one who taught you that break their promise to you?”

I frowned at that.

Nyaa-san drew closer to the still hot grilled fish and said, “Well, whatever. You came here because you didn’t want to cook dinner yourself, right?”

“Yeah… I don’t feel like doing anything right now. Sorry, Noname.”

“I don’t mind one bit,” Noname said with a smile as she placed a pumpkin gratin on the table. “In fact, I’m glad to be of help. But I’d be sad if there were any leftovers after I worked so hard to cook everything, so try your best to eat up, okay?”

“…Okay.” I began with the sweetfish, coated in so much salt that it was nearly pure white. I held it by the skewer and took a huge bite of the midsection, the strong kick of the salt and the bitter taste of fish liver soon spreading inside my mouth. The texture was soft and flaky, and the fish wasn’t big but still filling. The best part was the bitterness of the fish liver. It wasn’t the icky kind of bitterness but the kind that had a hidden savory-sweetness hidden within.

Enamored by the taste, I closed my eyes and smiled.

“Wa ha ha! The Hyosube can nab a good fish, all right. This would pair well with a nice, stiff drink.”

My mind wandered as I imagined what Shinonome-san would say if he were here.

“Ah, jeez!” I exclaimed. He’s the worst!

“Oh, my…” Noname smiled sadly. “You know what, don’t force yourself to eat today, dear. Take it easy.”

“You really want to be with that father of yours…” Suimei said, entering the courtyard with a pot in his hands.

“Something wrong with that?” I grumbled, resting my chin on my hands.

Kuro came running up from behind Suimei and said, “I think it’s great! Shinonome’s a nice dad. A far better dad than this other guy I know, at least… So yeah, nothing wrong with it, Kaori!” He then saw Nyaa-san and let out a surprised yelp, earning a glare from her.

Swaying her tails in the air with a mean look on her face, she silently approached Kuro as though closing in on prey. “…What’s wrong? Are you scared of me?”

“Wh-what? There’s no way I’d be scared of a cat!”

“Hmm…” She stopped in front of him and put a paw on his snout. He whined fearfully, after which she said, “I guess a mutt will never be anything more than a mutt.”

“What in the world are you two doing?” Suimei asked incredulously. He let out an exasperated sigh and began preparing tea. “Anyway, Kaori, it’s not that I think there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just that people your age normally put more distance between themselves and their fathers.”

Unlike with Japanese tea, Chinese tea involved a lot of steps. Even so, Suimei prepared the tea with a practiced hand, proof of how used he was to living here.

“What’s ‘normal’ anyway?” I grumbled.

“Hmm, dunno. I haven’t really lived a normal life myself,” he said as he put a cup of tea in front of me. The smell was so good, I couldn’t refrain from peering inside.

“It’s qing cha,” he said. “Also known as oolong tea. It’s good for calming down and helps give you an appetite.”

“Really? It’s completely different from the oolong tea I know. It smells so much stronger and more refreshing.”

“Don’t compare this to the cheap stuff. I’m using actual quality tea leaves.”

Feeling impressed, I took a sip. The warm and fragrant tea passed through me, and I let out a satisfied sigh. I really did feel calmer. “…It’s delicious. Thank you, Suimei.”

“Humph.” He turned away.

I smiled at his embarrassment, then bowed slightly to him and Noname. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, both of you. I let myself get too emotional over something so insignificant.”

“Oh, Kaori…” Noname, sitting in the chair next to me, frowned. “Don’t say that. We all know how important that dimwit is to you.”

“Sorry…” I watched the small ripples on the surface of my tea and said, “I…can’t help but think the reason Shinonome-san won’t tell me where he’s going is because I’m not his real daughter.”

“His real daughter?” she asked.

“Yeah… You know…because we’re not blood relations.”

Becoming Shinonome-san’s real daughter had been a dream of mine since I was a child. Of course, I was an adult now, and I’d learned a long time ago that such a thing wasn’t actually possible. I couldn’t cling to such childish fantasies anymore.

Whatever Shinonome-san was doing now was important to him, important enough that he didn’t want others to interfere. That was why he couldn’t tell anyone except those he truly trusted. That fact hurt me somewhere deep inside. It was like a thorn had embedded itself within my heart, constantly pricking away at me.

“Pff, ha, ha ha ha… Oh, how silly… That’s what you’re worried about?” Noname almost doubled over from laughter.

“Huh?” I said, flummoxed.

Unsure of how to take this, I looked to Suimei for help, but he was already giving me this fed-up look. “Real, not real… Who cares.”

“The two of you are closer than most blood-related families are, and you still have that kind of worry? I’m sorry, but that’s hilarious, dear.”

“Oh, come on…” I mumbled. Did they think I was overthinking things?

Just as I started to feel huffy, Noname cooed, “You don’t need to worry about a thing. In fact…if you really love that dullard, trust him.”

Trust him—the meaning of those words eluded me, but I clung to them regardless.

She poked the gratin with her fork and giggled. “That man dotes on you like you’re his world. Am I wrong?”

“No…” I admitted.

Unexpectedly, Suimei followed up Noname’s words. “Why don’t you ask him what he’s doing yourself, the next time you meet? You said it yourself, right? You have to communicate, or your feelings won’t be clear.”

“Right… I did say that.” For some reason, I felt like crying.

I buried my face into the table and, being ever-stubborn, grumbled, “I get it… I really do… But I can’t stop thinking that I wouldn’t be this worried if I were his daughter by blood…”

Noname sighed. “That is a matter of your own heart.”

Slowly, I shut my eyelids.

What was essential was invisible to the eye. I understood that, I really did—but I still couldn’t stop myself from searching among the things I could see. Even though it hurt so much.

 

The five of us had a peaceful dinner after that.

All the Shinonome-san stuff still weighed on me, but I decided to stop fretting about it as much as I could. That didn’t mean I felt better about it all, but I certainly wasn’t about to let myself agonize over it forever. For now, it could be pushed to the back of my mind.

We talked about many things, and before we knew it, it had grown late. I left the cleanup to Suimei and Kuro and got ready to go home. Noname walked me to the door. Just as I was about to leave, I decided to ask her one last time: “…You sure you don’t know where Shinonome-san might be?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“And you won’t tell me what he might be doing?”

She smiled. “He asked me to keep it a secret, so no.”

I pursed my lips.

Nyaa-san, by my feet, frowned. “Won’t budge, huh?”

Noname laughed her gorgeous laugh. “You best ask him yourself. It’ll be more moving that way.”

“Hm?”

“C’mon, tell us,” Nyaa-san urged. “What’s that blockhead playing at?”

“Sorry, but you won’t be hearing anything from me. This apothecary’s lips are tight. People would lose faith in my business if I went and blabbed secrets, after all.”

I had to wonder, was it really such a big secret?

Nyaa-san and I shared a look.

That was when Noname’s eyes suddenly lit up as she spotted something behind me. “My, what perfect timing! Now there’s a man so loose-lipped you’d think it was his job.” She smiled craftily. “You should ask him, dear. In fact, he’s one of the ringleaders in all this mess. I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore, my sweet Kaori, so go interrogate him, okay? Hey, Nyaa?”

“What?”

“Go catch that man!”

“All right…but I’m doing it for Kaori.” Nyaa-san took off, gradually transforming into her giant form as she ran and tackled a passerby.

“Aaahhhhh?!”

“Nyaa-san?! What are you—wait, it’s you?!” After a short trot, I found Nyaa-san using her foot to pin down a man dressed in an absurdly gaudy haori.

He struggled for a bit, but soon went limp and said, “I assure you that I would make for a terrible meal… But if you insist on giving me a taste regardless, I’ll offer you something even better instead: one hundred hard-to-come-by stories. How about it?”

It was Shinonome-san’s longtime friend, the shady-looking story-seller, Tamaki-san.

 

***

 

Having learned Shinonome-san’s location from Tamaki-san, I returned to the shop to make some preparations and then quickly set off with Nyaa-san.

We went through the Hell of Great Wailing, the fifth of the Eight Hot Hells, to get where we needed. Surrounding the wailing dead was a steep stone wall. On that wall was a cave that connected to Iwate Prefecture, one of the six prefectures in Tohoku. More specifically, it connected to Mount Rokko-Ishi, located on the borders of Tono City and Kamaishi City.

We passed through the rugged cave and came out the other side. Because we had left after dinner, it was already dark out. Not a single cloud blotted the sky, allowing us to clearly see all the stars spread across it. Far off in the distance, I could faintly make out the peaks of the Kitagami Mountains as they were lit by starlight.

The nearby city of Tono was famous for its plentiful surviving folklore, so much so that it was known as “the Village of Folklore.” Around here, non-humans and humans had existed in close proximity for ages. Perhaps thanks to that, many spirits still lived there today.

“It’s cold.” My warm breath formed a white cloud before fading away. It was too early for snow in Tohoku, but that didn’t mean the nights weren’t cold.

Nyaa-san wordlessly brushed up beside me. I happily accepted her kindness and clung to her body for warmth. Just then, a blue-white light appeared and slowly neared.

“You’ve come…” said an old lady in rags. She held a paper lantern with a blue Hitodama inside. Hitodama were these floating balls of fire thought to be human souls that had wandered away from their bodies. The old lady’s hair was white and disheveled, clearly unbrushed. Her skin was dry, cracked like the surface of rock, and her cloudy eyes were clogged with yellow eye mucus. Finally, her arms and legs were as thin as twigs, and she walked barefoot. “Tamaki-sama asked me to guide you. Follow me.”

She turned away and walked, her footsteps so quiet that she could’ve been sliding across ice. Nyaa-san and I shared a look and nodded before following after her. Only the light of the paper lantern helped us navigate the overgrown undergrowth of the dark mountain.

“We’ve had many guests as of late. How very unusual.” The woman cackled before swiftly making her way down an animal trail. It took no small effort to keep up with her.

“Are you an acquaintance of Tamaki-san?” I asked.

She stopped and spun around, flashing a broad smile. “I am indebted to that man. He looks after me…a spirit who’s but a shadow of the human she once was.” She resumed walking. “Those who’ve fallen to the waysides of society have nowhere to go, you see.”

Her words came as a bit of a surprise.

There were roughly three kinds of spirits. The first kind were those who were simply born as spirits. The second kind were objects that had gained sentience over many years. The third kind were former humans who had somehow become spirits.

Yao Bikuni was of the third kind. There weren’t many former-human spirits around, but this old lady was apparently one of them.

With a sad smile on her face, she touched a nearby tree as she walked by it. In an instant, the air began to shift around us. Nyaa-san and I both stopped, wary of our surroundings.

The old lady laughed, giving us a gap-toothed smile. “It’s nothing, we just passed through a boundary. C’mon now, let’s continue.”

“R-right,” I stammered back.

“Kaori. Get on my back,” Nyaa-san offered, not letting her guard down one bit.

“Good idea.” I hopped onto Nyaa-san’s back. She then continued to follow after the old lady.

The old lady touched a few more trees as we walked, causing the air to shift again and again. According to her, the mountain was split into various different areas, each ruled by its own land or mountain gods. The air felt different depending on the ruler of the specific area into which we had passed.

“We’re here,” she said.

After a long walk, we reached a wide, gaping clearing in the forest. A single tree stood within it. If I looked carefully, I could detect signs of pruning that had been done to the tree. Perhaps humans had lived here at one point in the past.

“Take your shoes off under that pear tree there, then touch it and wish to be moved,” she said.

“Okay… Thank you for showing us the way.” I followed the woman’s instructions, neatly placing my shoes under the tree and reaching out for the trunk—but I stopped short. “Um, before I go, can I have your name? I’d like to show you my gratitude sometime.”

The woman blinked a few times in surprise, then wrinkled her face into a smile. “What a polite child you are. I don’t need any gratitude, but I’ll give you my name. A long time ago, I was born as Sada, daughter of Mosuke. Later, I became known as Noboto-no-Baba and have been called many things since…but I suppose I’m best known as Samuto-no-Baba. Really, I’m just another of the many who got spirited away as a wee child and became something non-human. Nobody special at all.”

I thanked Samuto-no-Baba again and gave her my name in turn. She gave me another wrinkly grin and sat down on a nearby stump. “Well, I’ll be waiting here for you two.”

“We’ll try to be quick,” I said.

“No, no, enjoy yourself. I usually exist as a statue, so I hardly feel the time pass. Take your time…Kaori.”

“Okay, I will. Again, thank you!” I waved goodbye, then touched the tree trunk. In an instant, the air around me shifted again. I looked ahead of me and saw something colorful beyond the pear tree. “…Whoa!”

There was a traditional L-shaped farmhouse with a thatched roof, common in the Tono area. That alone wasn’t all that exceptional, but it had appeared out of thin air. Around the farmhouse were a bunch of deciduous trees that brightened the area with brilliant reds and yellows. My ears also picked up the sound of horse whinnies, cow moos, and chicken clucks coming from somewhere. The farmhouse was built the old-fashioned way, but its materials were all brand new. A bright light seeped out from within it, giving me the impression that it was warm inside. However, the inside was dead silent, and there was nothing to indicate anyone was waiting within.

I gulped and approached the farmhouse with Nyaa-san. It was no exaggeration to say that this place was the most famous legend in all Tono folklore: Mayoiga, a phantom house said to bring riches to all who visited. This was where I would find my adoptive father, Shinonome-san.

 

“Pardon the intrusion.”

The inside of the farmhouse was peculiar to say the least. Just past the entrance was a dirt floor, and there was a horse stable right to the side. Raising livestock was common in Iwate, and in fact, in the past it had been famous for rearing robust horses. Perhaps that was why keeping the animals at home was normal there.

With the building’s layout, the smoke from the stove would rise and flow toward the stable, heating it and the hay stored in the attic. This kept the horse warm during the periods of heavy winter snowfall that this area received. The horse was treated like family, as was detailed in many old tales—but that’s for another time.

A step up from the dirt floor was a tatami-matted area. There, a lit hearth in the floor heated a suspended steaming iron pot. It looked as though somebody had been there moments ago. I gingerly slid open the sliding door dividing the large room I had entered but didn’t find Shinonome-san.

“He’s probably over here, Kaori.” Nyaa-san sniffed the air and walked toward the back of the farmhouse. There, we found a sliding door more luxurious than the others. Maybe this was where the master of the house slept?

A warm light seeped through the elaborate transoms above the sliding doors. I could sense someone inside.

“All right… Let’s go.” After sharing a look with Nyaa-san, I opened the door.

There, a familiar back awaited me.

His only good short-sleeve kosode looked even more worn-out than usual. From underneath his collar, the camel-colored shirt he always wore peeked out. His hair was graying, and a light scale pattern covered his skin.

He scratched his neck with a fountain pen, a habit of his that I had long since grown accustomed to seeing. Surrounding the desk he faced were discarded drafts, crumpled balls of paper, and a tower of reference books.

“Shinonome-san?” I called. I received no response. I moved to where I could see his face and was about to try and get his attention again when…I stopped.

“Kaori? What’s wrong?” Nyaa-san asked, a puzzled look on her face.

I backed away from him and left the room. “I don’t think I should bother him when he’s like this.”

“Why not? You have every right to chew him out. Don’t you remember how much grief he gave you?”

“It’s fine. I want to let him focus.” I headed for the kitchen. Atop the counter were vegetables still fresh with dew, as well as fresh meat and rice, all just begging to be used. This was just the magic of Mayoiga, I supposed. I didn’t see anyone else here, but we were definitely being given a grand welcome.

“Maybe he would be happy if I made something…?” I grinned wryly at myself and opened the lid of a pot. It was filled to the brim with cold well water. “All right! Nyaa-san, mind helping out?”

“What’re you doing?” she asked.

I smiled and, with a bit of pride, said, “My duty…as Shinonome-san’s daughter!”

 

“Whew… I’m finally done!” Shinonome-san stretched up his arms and let himself flop back onto the tatami. On the desk was a neatly bundled manuscript, the pages slightly crumpled. Red and black ink was splotched here and there on the manuscript, making it almost as shabby as his short-sleeve kosode.

Having been waiting for him to finish, I said, “Well done. Do you want to eat or take a bath first?”

“Whoa?!” He shot up and crawled toward me on all fours. He then grabbed my cheeks with both hands and stared at me. “Huh? What? Am I so exhausted that I’m seeing things…?”

“You wouldn’t exactly be able to touch me if you were.”

“That’s true.” He squished my face for a bit, then smiled broadly to reveal white teeth. “…Yeah, that’s my daughter, all right.”

Embarrassed, I quickly waved his hands away. “Stop it. Which is it then, are you eating or bathing first?”

“Oh! Only my daughter could make such a grumpy face!”

“Enough!”

“Aha ha! Sorry, sorry. I’ll eat first.”

“Unbelievable, the nerve of this man…” I grumbled as I led him to the sunken hearth. Above the hearth was an iron pot suspended on a pot hook. White steam rose from the pot, which contained a stew.

Shinonome’s face lit up the moment he saw what was in the pot. “Oh! Hittsumi!”

“I thought hittsumi would be nice, since we’re in Iwate. I get the feeling you haven’t had a decent meal in a while either, so I tried making it a bit lighter on the oils.”

Hittsumi was a soup with roots from Iwate. It consisted of bits of wheat flour kneaded until it was as soft as earlobes and thrown into a pot together with root vegetables. The wheat flour was plucked and torn apart, a process called “hittsumu” in the local Iwate dialect, from which the dish derived its name. The exact ingredients and methods used varied from family to family, making it a dish that often reminded one of home.

“I’ll bet you’ve been eating nothing but meat, so I made sure to put tons of veggies in,” I said. “There’s roots, mushrooms, and even scallion! I also added some chicken in there, but it’s mainly vegetables.”

“Can I drink…?”

“No way! You’re in no condition to be drinking with your exhaustion.”

“Guh…” he groaned.

I ignored him and grabbed the ladle.

My hittsumi had a shoyu base—specifically one that employed bonito, mirin, and dark soy sauce. There was chicken in it, as well as a healthy amount of root vegetables and mushrooms. The ingredients gave the soup more than ample savoriness, as well as a wonderfully balanced flavor that eased the body.

“Eat up.” I scooped out a big helping of vegetables, then ladled the broth over them. The chicken fats swirled in the soy sauce-colored broth, dimly glistening under the light. The relaxing smell of soy sauce filled the surrounding space, stimulating my hunger. All of a sudden, I had the urge to eat a second dinner.

The sputtering of the pot served as pleasant background noise for the meal. I handed Shinonome-san the bowl, and he looked in it and smiled, his eyes softening.

“Where’s Nyaa-san?” he asked.

“She got bored of waiting, so she went to see the horses.”

“Oh.”

We made meaningless small talk as I served out my own portion. I had already eaten, so I figured I’d keep my portion small, but—

“Dang, that’s good!”

“Whoa!” Surprised by Shinonome-san’s sudden outburst, I dropped the ladle into the ashes of the hearth. I quickly picked it up and glared at him. “Jeez! You haven’t even said grace yet!”

“My bad. I couldn’t wait any longer. It’s been days since I’ve had some hot soup.”

“What are you, a child?”

He took another sip of the soup and exclaimed, “Mmm, but this really is some good stuff. I think your food might be the best in the world.” He burned his lips and blew on the soup, then began chewing away at the wheat flour bits that had turned brown from the broth.

I gazed down at my own bowl and slowly brought it to my lips. The soy sauce brought the complex mix of savory flavors together, and the wheat flour bits gave the soup a delicious consistency.

It was good, I will admit… But it didn’t taste like anything amazing, as my tongue was long used to the flavor from all the taste testing. Still—

“Give me seconds! With lots of those wheat flour bits…and chicken too, if you would.”

“Yes, yes…”

Shinonome-san wolfed down my food. He hardly ate when I wasn’t around but always seemed to have an appetite when I was.

I took his bowl and hung my head to hide my smile. At the same time, I felt a sniffle coming on. My vision suddenly blurred with tears, and I quickly tried to pull myself together.

“This really is good,” he said. “You should make this again sometime.”

“Sure.”

Our first meal together in a while was a warm one.

 

“Ah, so Tamaki told you where I was.” Shinonome-san scratched his head, taking a puff from his pipe and putting on an awkward smile.

“I was surprised to hear you were in Mayoiga. Were you hoping to take something home and become a millionaire?” I asked.

“Of course not. I’m just borrowing the house; I wasn’t invited here. Nothing’ll happen even if I do bring something back.”

“Is that right.” I noticed Nyaa-san had been gone for a while now and wondered for a moment if she was all right. I then looked over at Shinonome-san and, with some anxiety, asked, “So, do you mind telling me what you’re doing out here? It feels weird staying home all day, not knowing what you’re up to.”

If Shinonome-san thinks of me as his real daughter…then he will tell me, I thought.

He looked conflicted for a moment, then stood up and left for the room he had been in earlier. He came back bringing the bundled manuscript with which he had been locked in battle.

“Take a look,” he said.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. But not a word of its contents to anyone else.”

Gingerly, I flipped through the pages. The instant I understood what they contained, my eyes shot up to meet his.

The pages held the names of spirits I knew, as well as spirits I didn’t. It told of where they lived and their histories, and detailed what legends and folktales they were named in. Many of the stories he had received in lieu of money were also included.

Bashfully, he explained, “I—no, a group of us are planning to publish a spirit realm anthology.”

“A what?”

“An anthology, a collection of stories. It’ll contain tales about the spirit realm and offer information on spirits and their legends. Not bad, right?”

I looked down at the manuscript again. Forget not bad, it was incredible. The human world had various encyclopedias and other resources detailing the tales and origins of spirits, but never has there been any direct accounts compiled by spirits themselves. By reading this, you could learn the true lives spirits lived. Merely academically speaking, this was an invaluable resource. It would definitely make an amazing book!

“This is incredible, Shinonome-san! Wait, has a book ever been published in the spirit realm before?”

“Nope, it’ll be a first for us. An acquaintance of mine has some connections to a printing company that we’re hoping to use. If things go through, we’ll be blazing new trails,” he said proudly.

With the advent of media and the development of capitalist commerce, spirits had gradually become thought of as imaginary, fictional things. The humans of old had once believed in the existence of spirits and regarded them with fear and wariness. But as the eras passed, a rift formed between humans and spirits. Now, most humans have never seen a spirit before, in part due to more and more spirits moving to the spirit realm.

As a result, books that detailed new, firsthand accounts of spirits had disappeared entirely. Writing stories was a human activity, and spirits existed through being remembered, so only the most famous of spirits were recorded while the others gradually faded away in name and form.

“That’s why we’re trying to make our lives remembered, to try and decrease the number of spirits that become forgotten, if even just by one,” he said.

I remembered something as I listened to his explanation. Our bookstore kept track of our most popular books, and many of them were books by Toriyama Sekien, an ukiyo-e illustrator from the 1700s who often drew spirits. Our Toriyama Sekien books were almost always out on loan to someone. They had very few words in them, being illustrated books, so I always wondered why they were so popular…but now I think I understood. The spirits who borrowed those books saw their own lives portrayed—and remembered—in his work.

Shinonome-san looked a bit somber as he took a drag from his pipe. Exhaling smoke, he said, “For the longest time, I thought there was nothing that could be done about spirits who went unrecorded and were forgotten. But Tamaki said we could change that—that we could make the impossible possible. ‘The only thing holding us back is our belief it’s impossible,’ kinda stuff.”

“You’re talking about how spirits can’t write books and stories?”

He nodded, staring at his ink-stained hands. “That’s when I remembered: when you were young, I kept a journal to record your growth. So, I took it out and read it. Turns out it was a surprisingly good read. Nothing compared to actual commercial books, of course, but it was readable. Without even realizing it, I had created something.”

Furthermore, while doing his work at the bookstore, he learned his patrons had interesting experiences of their own to tell. They would regale friends and families with these experiences, adding little embellishments here and there to make the stories more interesting. Sometimes, the stories would even be retold in different ways by other people. While their originators might not have intended it, in so doing, they made something original. Such a chain of exchanges was no different from the sort of practice that humans had performed in the distant past.

“Spirits actually aren’t all that different from humans,” Shinonome-san said. “We’ve just never thought to write books ourselves…”

With that realization, he began collecting and writing down stories from spirits who couldn’t pay the store with money. He then sold those stories to Tamaki-san for the purpose of eventually compiling everything into a book.

“Nuh-uh—I remember you taking stories in place of money way back when I was a child!”

“Heh heh. That’s because I’ve been working on this for over ten years now! Incredible, right?” Shinonome-san said proudly, putting a hand over the manuscript. “A long time ago, books used to be real expensive, so a bunch of literary scholars opened up a book-lending store to let more people read. The book-lender was so popular during the war period that people were borrowing books left and right whenever an air raid wasn’t happening. Eventually, the books they had on hand weren’t enough, so they started self-publishing. It’s weird. Before I knew it, I was doing the same thing. Humans and spirits have their differences, but we take similar paths in life.”

He got more worked up and exclaimed, “This book covers just about every spirit there is in the spirit realm! There’s no way it won’t be a hit! If Tamaki were here, he’d say it perfectly targets demand or whatever! Word of mouth will spread once people realize their own stories are in here, and then tons and tons of spirits will come and borrow this book, don’t you think?”

“I guess?”

“Well, once that happens, we can live easy. You won’t need to pick up part-time work anymore.”

“Huh?” I was left speechless.

Shinonome-san reached out his large hand and roughly made a mess of my hair. “I can’t stay a deadbeat dad forever, now can I? I’m going to publish this book and become a father who can provide enough for his daughter to eat; a father you can be proud of… Will you help me?”

This was Shinonome-san’s grand dream: publishing the first ever book in the spirit realm. It wasn’t just an attempt to emulate what had until now been solely a human activity, nor merely an attempt to leave his mark on the world. It was for me… Shinonome-san was breaking new ground for me, his daughter!

He looked a little more haggard than usual, but his blue-gray eyes shone like a hopeful young boy’s.

Oh, Shinonome-san… I nodded deeply, my chest warm. The memory of that promise I’d made with him long ago surfaced to mind, the one sworn underneath that starry sky. He had found it. Even as an adult, he’d found the something he wanted to be.

“I’ll help you. Of course I’ll help you!” I said.

“I’m not being a bother?”

“Of course not. I’d be more than glad to help you…Father.” I smiled.

My father’s stiff face softened as he pulled me into a tight hug. Rubbing his unshaved chin against my cheeks, he exclaimed, “Oh, Kaori… I swear, I’ll make this book a success!”

“Ow, your stubble! Ow, ow!”

From the bottom of my heart, I was glad I had taken the plunge and asked him what he was up to.

I reaffirmed to myself what I wanted to do from here: I wanted to help him. I wanted to treasure what we had. I wanted to be the best daughter I could be for him, even if we weren’t bound by blood. To that end, I could endure a bit of stubble.

I grinned wryly as I closed my eyes and endured the prickling.

Suddenly, I heard what sounded like paper tearing close by. Worried we had accidentally torn his manuscript, I quickly looked down. But the precious manuscript was fine.

“Shinonome-san, did you hear…” My voice trailed off as his strong arms slackened, and I felt his comforting warmth slip away from me. “…Shinonome-san?”

With a thud, he slammed onto the tatami mat. His skin was covered in fissures, like cracks on pottery…or paper torn, then smushed together.

“K-Kao… Kaori…” Slowly, he extended a hand toward me.

Confused as to what was happening, I extended a hand to him as well. But when my fingers met his, I heard the sound of paper tearing again. It was an unsettling sound, one that shook my eardrums.

Scared, I tried to hug him. He looked me in the eyes, his face pale, and tried to reassure me. “I-I’m…okay… Don’t…worry.”

Without warning, his body vanished into thin air, as though it had never been real. The adoptive father who had protected me, raised me—he was gone, leaving not a trace of his warmth behind.

“No…” I clutched my arms and crouched. For some reason, it was suddenly so, so unbearably cold. I needed the warmth of another. I needed the warmth of that big, strong, reliable father who protected me. “No!”

My mind went blank as I wailed like a child.