Chapter 2: The Love Lives of the Bookstore

Chapter 2:
The Love Lives of the Bookstore

 

IN WINTER, the spirit realm was wrapped in complete silence, lending it an eerie quality. The spirits all shut themselves up in their homes and gave themselves over to idle slumber as they yearned for spring. This was winter in the spirit realm: as still as death, so much so that one hesitated even to breathe.

Illuminating this sleeping world was the winter sky, a sky as red as blood. This frozen sky, studded with flickering stars, painted a crimson glaze over a world dyed white by the snow.

“Ha ha ha ha…”

It was odd to get customers on winter days like these. Having settled the late fees for the moment, I was using the days when I didn’t have to go to my part-time job devoting myself to working through my tsundoku pile.

A tsundoku pile is a stack of books one has bought and not had time to read, so they just keep accumulating. I’d just gotten my hands on the first new title in a while from a series of lengthy Chinese novels that I had been obsessed with as a child. I’d bought all the books in similar genres that I could get my hands on. Well, within the limits of my pocket money, of course.

Reading them all in order, starting with the first one… Oh, how happy it made me!

“Ahhh. What shall I do after this?”

Nibbling a rice cracker, I followed the characters on the page, totally absorbed.

Steam wafted from the kettle alongside the pleasant warmth of the oil stove, weaving seamlessly with the quiet… There was no better way to get on with reading.

“Kaori-kun. Sorry, but could you bring me some tea?” asked the gentleman who was reading next to me. He wore a high-quality suit, but it was all crumpled, and he sat carelessly cross-legged on the tatami. He still had his hat and leather gloves on although we were indoors, and his gray eyes sparkled brightly as he followed the story in his hands with rapt attention.

Without looking up from my book, I flatly refused. “I’m at a really good point right now, so please go ahead and make it yourself.”

“Don’t you think you’re being too cold to me, Kaori-kun?” the gentleman said in a tearful voice. “I’m old, and you should be looking after me! Besides, I’m your employer! I’m only asking you to care about me a little…!”

Grudgingly, I looked up from my book to glare at him. “This is the spirit realm, and I’m not at work right now. If you want tea, Toochika-san, there’s water in the pot. Can’t you brew some yourself? I’m at a critical moment—I’m about to find out whether the protagonist’s rival lives or dies!”

“Hmm, that is a matter of the greatest importance. All right, I’ll make some myself.”

This gentleman who had understood my plight so readily was Toochika-san, a kappa spirit who owned the place where I worked part-time in the human world. He hurriedly got to his feet and headed for the kitchen.

I heard him as he was making tea in the kitchen.

“No doubt about it, tea that a woman has made for you tastes twice or even three times as good. That sweet Kaori-kun gave me the test of making tea by myself. I’ll show her that I can bear that kind of mistreatment. Ha ha ha, to think that I can even make tea… I’m perfect!”

He’s a bit of a narcissist… Chuckling to myself, I called out to him. “What you just said is pretty much sexual harassment!”

“What?! How hard it’s become to navigate this society! Gah, a life in which one cannot say what one thinks is as dry as sand,” Toochika-san said, evidently astonished, as he came bounding back. He put his teacup down on top of the kotatsu and cheerfully reached for the book he had been reading: Edogawa Ranpo’s The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows. It was first serialized in the popular magazine Hinode. The main character is a female thief who collects all the beautiful things in the world, and it’s known for being a work in which the famous detective Akechi Kogoro appears.

“Ahh…the Black Lizard. No other woman is as beautiful, wise, cruel, and cunning as she. I want to meet her in the flesh—even if it’s in a dream. My heart won’t stop pounding as her loveliness radiates from the page!” He seemed to have slipped deep into the world of The Black Lizard.

It had to be said. Although Toochika-san usually tried to behave like a gentleman, when he got like this, it was extremely annoying. He started to get caught up in his own little world, making exaggerated gestures like an actor in a play.

“In any case, I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“Oh no, it’s all right. I can read my favorite book.”

In addition to employing me at his shop, Toochika-san was Shinonome-san’s old friend and reading companion. He had apparently promised to have a drink with Shinonome-san today. The two regularly held parties where they each brought books they had recommended to the other and reviewed them together.

But as for Shinonome-san…

“Rargh! I can’t write!”

Shinonome-san’s annoyed voice filtered through from his room, which was next to the living room. As usual, his writing wasn’t going anywhere. A few days ago, he had abandoned his manuscript in a sulk, so now he was struggling to meet his deadline. As a result, Toochika-san had come around to read at our house, but he had been left to his own devices.

“I like talking with Shinonome-san about books, but spending time reading all the books that happen to catch my eye is marvelous. Selecting from all the books put out by a publisher whose work I’ve enjoyed before… This bookstore has just as many books as any library. You can keep me waiting as long as you like.”

Judging from his attitude, Toochika-san was enjoying himself anyway.

“You can get really absorbed, can’t you?” an astonished voice cut in. It was Suimei. Sitting under the kotatsu, he was surrounded by a large pile of books just as we were, but he didn’t seem very interested in them.

“You couldn’t find a book you liked?” I asked.

He flipped through the book he was holding and closed it with a small sigh. “I don’t really understand the attraction.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Perhaps there isn’t a book that suits me anywhere…” Suimei’s shoulders slumped dejectedly.

I hated to see him like that. “It doesn’t have to be a book, does it? How about a film, or a TV drama, or a game?”

Suimei shook his head. “No, it has to be a book,” he insisted.

With a small sigh, I closed my book, thinking back to what had happened a few days ago.

On that winter’s day, large snowflakes had fallen unceasing.

All of a sudden, Suimei had said to me, “I want to read a book.”

By this point, it had been a little more than half a year since I had met Suimei. I was genuinely surprised that he would say such a thing, since up until then, he hadn’t shown much interest in books. But from the way he put it, I got the impression that a certain incident had sparked his curiosity anew.

That incident had unfolded on an autumn day when the sky was painted a dark purple. Suimei had met his dead mother in the spirit realm.

Her death from illness had separated her from Suimei when he was only five years old. Anchored by the regret that she had left the young Suimei behind, she had been unable to reincarnate, and her soul had remained in the spirit realm. Mother and son had been reunited in a place where pained souls lingered, and although it had only been for a mere few days, they had been able to spend some time together.

“I’m bad at expressing my emotions. That was why my mother told me to read books. Read a lot, and study all kinds of feelings. That’s why I want to read one,” Suimei had said with great earnestness.

Luckily, our house was a rental bookstore; we were rolling in books. He had read nearly no books at all before, and I made him try out all kinds, from short stories to bestsellers that had sold a million copies.

Unfortunately, Suimei once again closed a book with a sigh.

“I don’t really get this, either. How can a housewife be a detective? Doesn’t this police detective know the words ‘duty of confidentiality’?”

“It’s just for entertainment! It’s fiction! Fiction!”

“And that manga I read the other day… Don’t you think the main character encountered murder cases too frequently, given that he was only an elementary school student? Dealing with dead bodies so often from an early age seems like it would have an adverse effect on the development of his personality. I feel like he might turn into a murderer when he grows up.”

“What?! It’s based on real events—I’m not comfortable with you saying that! Well, how about fantasy, then? Fantasy..!”

“What are all these elves and goblins? Spirits from somewhere?”

“Does that mean you’ll have to start with Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings?!”

“Lord of the… That doorstop of a book? Me, read that?”

For some reason, Suimei was struggling to find something he could really stick with. He wanted to read, and he had the ability to sail through long pieces of writing, but he couldn’t genuinely enjoy them.

This troubled me.

“I just can’t get used to it,” Suimei said apologetically. “At any rate, I don’t have any experience with stories. The truth is, my mother used to read them to me before I was old enough to understand what was going on…but I only found that out recently.”

To a certain extent, Suimei’s upbringing had been defined by a culture of purity. Everyone in the Shirai family who had been involved in raising him had, as a rule, intentionally kept him away from creative works. Consequently, he didn’t really understand the attraction or the significance of fiction.

“My father and the old men of the Shirai family shut me away from everything, you see,” he said. “When I was little, I was locked up in a pitch-black room. I didn’t go to school. I was taught everything I needed to live by an old man. Knowledge, social etiquette, how to behave as an exorcist, how to wield a weapon, how to kill a spirit…

“To them, an education in aesthetics was nothing but a hindrance,” Suimei said resentfully, all emotion wiped from his face.

Suimei was a former exorcist—and he had been born into a tsukimono clan bound to an Inugami. He had been brought up being told: You must not have emotions.

When an Inugami is bound to a person and that person feels jealousy toward someone else, the Inugami is prone to hurting the object of jealousy. As long as Suimei was making his living as an exorcist, emotions were a threat, since there was always a small chance that he might hurt a client. Even so, I feel like forbidding emotions themselves was an overreaction. Then again, perhaps something had happened in the past…

Fortunately, Suimei was now released from that binding spell. The Inugami Kuro was still with him, though the magical connection between them had been severed. Now they were simply friends and partners.

With a sigh, Suimei gazed at the books he had piled up. “I haven’t had much experience with fiction, so it might take me a while to understand the fun of books. Perhaps I just have to follow the usual path and get used to reading straightforward things like children’s picture books first.”

“That makes sense.”

Suimei was trying to outgrow his old self and walk a new path. The first step on that path was studying emotions through reading. I sincerely wanted to help him if I could.

But…there seems to be nothing for it but to make him read books he’s not interested in. I groaned to myself. “A book that you’d enjoy, Suimei? Perhaps there really isn’t one…”

The kotatsu blanket bulged and wriggled, and all of a sudden, another person popped their head out from underneath it.

“I was listening, and… Well, no, I don’t get it.”

It was Kinme. He was one of a pair of raven Tengu twins, and a childhood friend of mine. His jet-black hair was tousled from being under the kotatsu, and although he usually wore a monk’s clothing, today he was dressed very casually in a white turtleneck sweater.

As for why Kinme was at the bookstore without his twin brother Ginme, who he usually always accompanied? Ginme had gone with their teacher the Great Tengu of Mount Kurama to meditate under a waterfall, and Kinme had been lonely all by himself. He’d suddenly turned up and gone to sleep under the kotatsu, so I’d left him alone.

Now he grinned so widely that his drooping golden eyes partly closed as he turned to Suimei. “But hey, you’re a boy of a certain age, right, Suimei? You’ll want to read something sexy. A sexy book.”

“No way, what are you—hey, Kinme!” Suimei protested, bright red.

Kinme cackled with laughter. Then his expression turned serious. “I think it’s extremely natural for boys of a certain age to take an interest in sexual matters. Or rather, to have questions about them.” Staring at Suimei, he tilted his head a little to the side. “How should I put it… How have you studied love, Suimei?”

“Love?” Suimei tilted his head, puzzled by Kinme’s words.

“This is only a theory of mine, but…I don’t think you can learn love from anyone else,” Kinme went on. “For example, you could become aware of love by seeing the harmonious relationship between your parents, but you wouldn’t understand anything about falling in love. That’s because your parents went through the process of falling in love a long time ago. So if you think about where you learn how to fall in love, it must be from communal life at school, or books and television dramas and films… From creative works, right?”

“Oh… Maybe. Parents and teachers don’t instruct us on how to socialize with the opposite sex.”

“Right? That’s because humans are animals. I think they learn sexual behavior through instinct. But when it comes to choosing what they should do next, they have to have something to refer to. Something cultural and rational. These days, though, if you pin somebody down ‘because you love them,’ you’ll just get arrested.”

“I get what you mean, Kinme, but you should say it in a more roundabout way.”

“Huh? But that’s such a pain.” Kinme gazed at Suimei with keen interest. “That’s why I had questions…about your love life, Suimei!”

What information is Kinme trying to get out of him? I looked at my old friend in astonishment. But on the inside, my heart was pounding. I, too, was curious about what Suimei’s love life might be.

After thinking for a little while, Suimei frowned. “I don’t really understand what a ‘love life’ is. The old man who gave me my education told me about the act of human reproduction.”

“The…act?”

“The old man used these ancient books, bound in traditional Japanese fashion. He would stick brushstroke paintings of men and women intertwined with one another under my nose and recount his own experiences—”

“Eeeek! Wait! Stop right there, Suimei!”

I unthinkingly silenced him. Suimei looked annoyed, but this wasn’t the time for me to worry about that.

What should I say… I kind of…kind of feel like running away!

“Heeeee…hee hee, hee hee hee hee… Wha…what?!… His own experiences? Eurgh!” Kinme had been the one to draw this information out of Suimei, but he clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he could barely speak.

I slowly took my hand away from Suimei’s mouth and breathed a sigh of relief. Although I knew he wasn’t, my whole body itched with shame as if he had been talking about me.

“Did I say something weird?” Suimei himself seemed to feel this was unreasonable. Frowning in displeasure, he glared at Kinme, who was still crouched there laughing.

“Don’t worry too much, Suimei. Kinme’s just horsing around, as usual.”

“I’m not worried. Well, what it comes down to is that I don’t really understand love. I don’t understand the secrets of the emotions that normal people have in the first place.”

As Suimei sighed out these words, one person in our little group instantly reacted.

“Oh! Very interesting.” That was Toochika-san, who up until now had been sitting quietly, listening to us talk.

His handsome face shone like a teenage boy’s, and he scooted over to Suimei. “So, in other words, you don’t know anything of the promises and conflicts of love, right?” he asked with barely suppressed energy. “Oh, I’m so jealous!”

“Jealous?” Suimei tipped his head to one side.

“You’re mentally mature, and you can enjoy stories without any foreknowledge,” Toochika-san said with a faraway look on his face. “You can see both the great works of the past and new masterpieces through fresh eyes. All the stories spun in front of you will seem vibrant and revolutionary. If that isn’t enviable, I don’t know what is!”

Flushed with excitement, he gripped Suimei’s hand. “Besides, there is some truth to what Kinme-kun said. Although we can’t speak freely here about erotic books and the like, it’s only natural for a boy your age to be interested in women. What you should be reading now are works that deal with youth and love… All the books that Kaori-kun has picked out for you seem rather light on romantic elements.”

I instinctively recoiled at Toochika-san’s words. “Ack… I just prefer adventure to romance!”

“Oh no, I like adventure too. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Love that can be fostered in the midst of adventure is valuable, but it feels rather tacked on. I think it would be appropriate to try something new and experience the many works that choose love as their main theme. Though that has its advantages and disadvantages too… Well then, shall I introduce you to an acquaintance of mine who is well versed in matters of romance?!”

“O-okay…” Suimei said rather hesitantly to Toochika-san’s excitement.

I, meanwhile, scowled at his eagerness. “Are you up to something?”

Toochika-san gave me an unnecessarily invigorated smile. “Ha ha ha. I couldn’t possibly be. I just like watching platonically as young people, by turns irritated and bashful, close the distance between them little by little.”

“What kind of hobby is that?” I forced a laugh. Toochika-san was puffed up with pride, clearly thinking it was a great hobby. He’s carrying his joke too far. I sought agreement from Suimei, but…

“I understand. I am interested in romance. Please introduce me to this acquaintance of yours.”

I was so shocked that my jaw almost hit the floor.

 

***

 

Shinonome-san’s manuscript was nowhere near finished, so Suimei and I decided to go and visit Toochika-san’s acquaintance straightaway. The squeaking of our feet treading down the piled-up snow echoed through the still and silent spirit realm, in which all hustle and bustle had been forgotten. Although it was winter, butterflies fluttered about us. These were glimmerflies, which inhabited the spirit realm in great numbers and were highly prized as sources of light.

Relying on the light of those butterflies, which danced about us as lightly as if they were playing, we journeyed through a world of perpetual night.

Suimei, Kinme, and I followed behind an exultant Toochika-san.

“Ooh, I wonder who it is. This is so exciting!” Kinme said in high spirits.

In contrast: Suimei. “Deliberately going out in the snow? What a bother.”

He seemed to be fed up with the sheer amount of snow and wanted to go home already.

As I walked beside them, I covertly eyed Suimei.

“I’m interested in romance.”

A question emerged in my mind: Hey, Suimei, is there someone you’ve started liking?

Biting back the urge to ask, I pulled my scarf up around my face. What a change of heart…

My own heart felt heavy.

At that moment, Suimei suddenly spoke up. “Are you cold, Kaori?”

“N-no, I’m fine.”

“Okay, tell me if you are.”

As he spoke, his eyes, framed by long eyelashes, partly closed in a gentle smile. As he looked up at the red-tinged sky of the spirit realm, he let out a white puff of breath. The snow fluttering down from the sky was reflected in his large eyes, and I found myself wondering what he saw.

“Ahhh.” My heart pounded violently. My face felt warm. It was probably red.

Pulling up my scarf again, I bowed my head just in case Suimei saw. The only things in my field of vision were my boots, crunching through the snow.

I wonder why my heart is throbbing like this. I had been considering the reason for some time now, but no answer came to me.

It’s strange. I wonder if I’m attracted to him, I thought absentmindedly. But at the same time, I thought it entirely possible that I was just baffled by how differently I saw him now from when we’d first met.

But there’s no denying I find myself captivated by his expression when I least expect it. Having said that, there’s no decisive way to confirm that this is love. The sigh I breathed out was dyed white by the chill of the air, then dissolved into nothingness before my eyes. If only these gloomy feelings would disappear as well.

At times like these, a desire flashed across my mind. I wished I had someone I could ask for advice without reserve.

Several candidates presented themselves. But my best friend, Nyaa-san, wasn’t a human. And I would have felt embarrassed about going to Noname, who fulfilled the role of mother for me.

I should have made human friends.

The truth was that for a time, I had been allowed to go to a school that other humans went to. It had been Shinonome-san’s idea.

“Don’t you think you ought to try living in human society, just once?”

And so I’d disappeared into a school in Tokyo for three years. Toochika-san, who had a lot of influence even in human society, had taken care of the formalities.

And yet… However hard I tried, I had been unable to let my guard down among my human classmates.

I think those three years were pointless.

I’d studied just as well in the spirit realm, to the point where I hadn’t had any difficulty in lessons. But I had been unable to make small talk with my classmates. After all, our values differed. Somehow, we remained definitively out of sync, and those differences created an unbridgeable gulf.

If only I’d faced up to my classmates properly during that time… If only I’d gained romantic experience during my school days…

But it was too late to worry about such things.

Perhaps Suimei and I are the same.

Suimei had spent his life isolated from everything. I had gone through life unaware of things that it was perfectly normal for humans to experience. Although I read books and watched characters fall in love, it had never seemed like something I would also do.

I’m similar to a human, but not the same. For me, “love” is like something from another world. Or rather…I wonder whether I can love normally?

“Hey, Kaori.”

“Uh, wh-what?”

While I had been lost in thought, Kinme had appeared by my side. Golden eyes narrowing impishly, he peered at me. “Speaking of falling in love… Is there someone you like, Kaori?”

“What?”

The abruptness of the question left me greatly shaken. When I glanced at Suimei, he also seemed to be looking in my direction.

Looking here and there, I answered vaguely. “I d-don’t know…” My voice trailed off.

“Oooh?” Kinme smiled meaningfully.

He was so interested in my reply, and I couldn’t bear it. I turned the question back on him. “Wh-what about you, Kinme?”

With a look of surprise, he answered straightaway, “Love? Is it really necessary?” He tilted his head to one side and smiled innocently. “Love is just for weak-minded people.”

Kinme threw those words out so casually. They pierced my heart like thorns.

“Here we are, ladies and gentlemen.”

Thirty minutes after we had set out, Toochika-san stopped in a certain place.

“Oh! Toochika-san, is this really…?” Kinme exclaimed with delight.

“What are we doing here…?” Suimei asked, thoroughly confused.

As for me, I froze as soon as I saw where we were.

The Ohaguro Ditch was surrounded by a deep moat, alongside which ran a barrier of tall trees. There was only one place where people could get through, a great gate called a daimon (meaning “big gate”). As soon as we passed through the gate, I saw a small guardroom.

“Greetings,” said Toochika-san.

The one-eyed spirit in the guardroom bowed his head as Toochika-san addressed him.

Returning the bow, Toochika-san strolled on.

“T-Toochika-san?! Shinonome-san told me never to come here!” Flustered, I chased after Toochika-san and held him back.

He gave me a sardonic smile. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem, You’re an adult now, after all.”

“But…! Is this really all right?” I asked miserably, looking at my surroundings again.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Now let’s get on to Yoshiwara.”

That’s right, the spirit realm knows this place as “Yoshiwara.”

In other words, the Yoshiwara that, from the Edo to the Showa period, was famous as a red-light district.

In the human world, its existence as a pleasure quarter came to an end after the passing of the Prostitution Prevention Law of 1956 (Showa 31), but as a matter of fact, it had continued to exist in the spirit realm.

The world of spirits was one in which things that had been lost in the human world still lingered. It was easy for places where many humans had spent time, and where many different emotions were jumbled together, to be restored to life. Even the tenement houses in which many spirits I knew lived had really existed in the Edo period; they had also been brought back in the spirit realm.

Nevertheless, there were parts of the Yoshiwara of the spirit realm that differed definitively from the Yoshiwara of the human world. Namely, although it had kept the townscape characteristic of Yoshiwara, it didn’t function as a pleasure quarter.

The inhabitants of the spirit realm are, well, spirits. They don’t share the human interest in hiring someone for sex, so red-light districts were deemed unnecessary.

“Well, in any case, let’s go!”

“All right…” Although I felt uneasy, I followed after Toochika-san.

Passing under the great gate, we immediately came to a wide street. Smack-dab in the middle of the street was a mound of earth with cherry trees planted in it. But right now, it was winter. Their branches, blanketed in snow, looked bleak. I could nevertheless imagine how gorgeous this place was in brighter seasons.

Buildings jostled each other on both sides of the street, and paper lanterns filled with glimmerflies hung in rows from every eave.

In front of the shops, which had their trade names emblazoned on noren curtains, there were stands for hawkers to call out to potential customers. Beyond the noren, I caught glimpses of rooms of luxurious design. The sound of shamisen and hand drums floated from the second floor of the shops and echoed lightly down the street. The light that filtered from inside the shops was bright enough to illuminate the night sky.

As the world goes to sleep, day dawns in the pleasure quarters.

This was the nightless city such senryu poems spoke of.

The Yoshiwara of the spirit realm…

Even walking around and gazing at the townscape was interesting. There were tons of things I had never seen before; anyone with an interest in history surely couldn’t help but be fascinated by it. But I kept walking along behind Toochika-san, shivering uncontrollably.

“Hey, niisan, niisan. Wait up. Won’t you come and play with me?”

“Heavens, you’re a pretty girl, aren’t you?”

“If you think so… Come this way, come on.”

The area doesn’t function as a pleasure quarter. Or at least, it wasn’t supposed to. But I could still hear the exchanges between prostitutes and their clients.

“He’s running away! Chase him!”

“Whew…aahh…whew…aahh…”

“Catch him! Don’t let him get away!”

“Whew…aahh…I’ll definitely come back… Mother… Mother…”

Someone’s rough breathing brushed past my ears, followed by the sound of many footsteps.

“Why! Am I not a regular? I’m here all the time, spending large sums of money! So why won’t you see me?!”

“Go home. I don’t like people like you.”

“I love you. I fell in love with you at first sight. So why…?!”

“Please, go home!”

The man’s voice was full of passion. In contrast, the woman’s voice was cold.

Suddenly uneasy, I glanced about my surroundings. Just then, a woman’s scream rent the air. At the same time, I heard sobs that made my whole body break out in goosebumps. However, although I could hear her voice clearly, the voice’s owner was nowhere to be seen.

“What’s going on? What’s with this voice?!” Suimei was also looking around in consternation. One hand went to the pouch at his belt, preparing for battle.

Toochika-san and Kinme stopped and turned to me and Suimei.

“It’s all right. They’re just voices, so what’s the harm?” With a gentle smile, Kinme put his hands over my ears.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the sound of my surroundings grew distant. But we couldn’t do this for the whole time we were here. Lifting Kinme’s hands away from my ears, I said, “Thank you. I’d heard about them, but they bothered me more than I thought they would.”

I could still hear a woman’s voice.

“I want to go back to my home, but I cannot…”

Her moans sounded as if they were coming from right next to me. Panicked, I shook my head to dispel them.

“Well… I guess it’s pretty intense for humans. That’s probably why Shinonome-san told you to never come here.”

“Hey, Kinme-kun. I’m the one who’s to blame for bringing her along. Kaori-kun’s all right now. I just thought she shouldn’t stay away from things like this forever.”

There was a reason I could hear the voices of people we couldn’t see.

The cries of the souls of people who once lived in places like this still clung to them even after they had been reborn into the spirit realm. Once these places adapted to the spirit realm, the souls’ cries faded away, and the places themselves were transformed little by little from their original state. That was common knowledge in the spirit realm.

This was partly why Shinonome-san had ordered me never to come here. It would have been different were it a normal place, but he had decided that here in Yoshiwara, there were too many cries of sorrow and women’s voices full of despair. He’d felt that, for me—as I was also a woman—the burden would be too great.

I couldn’t see the women who had lived here. But when I thought about their circumstances, it brought such pain to my heart that I could barely breathe.

Kinme rubbed his finger in a circle between my eyebrows. “There’s no need to empathize with invisible people. You really are a fool, Kaori.” Then he laughed, looking intently at me. “That little wrinkle between your eyebrows… I don’t care even if it is a bad habit of yours.”

“Oof… I hate wrinkles. But it’s because I can hear the voices.”

“Hmm, that’s just like you, Kaori. We told you: ignore them! No one is really sad or hurt, so just pretend you can’t hear them. Okay?”

“Yeah… Thanks, Kinme.”

Kinme glanced behind me and burst out laughing. As I was wondering why, Kinme threw his hands up as if in surrender. “Yeah, that’s more like my old friend. I haven’t seen you act like that in a while. All right! I’ll feel bad if I get glared at anymore. Let’s go now! Toochika-san, are we headed over there?”

“Someone’s glaring?”

Kinme had instantly turned his back to me. I tilted my head to one side, then glanced behind me. But there was no one there except Toochika-san, grinning broadly, and Suimei, as expressionless as always.

“Ah, youth. Why, it’s been a while since my heart fluttered like this.” With a spring in his step, Toochika-san followed after Kinme.

I looked at Suimei, who had been left behind. He easily turned his gaze away from me and followed behind Toochika-san.

“Eh? What’s going on?” I tilted my head.

“Kaori? Come on, quickly!”

As if Kinme’s voice had given me a shove in the back, I followed after the rest of them.

 

***

 

The place that Toochika-san led us to was one street over from the main avenue. It had once been a brothel known as Harimise. This area had already adapted to the spirit realm, and I could no longer hear the cries that had stopped me before.

The buildings of Yoshiwara, steeped in this world in which spirits lived, had taken on something of a magical air. The entire front of this lavish building was hidden by a cluster of Chinese lantern plants. Usually, summer and autumn were the best time to see these plants, but according to Toochika-san, here they bloomed all year round. The lantern-shaped calyxes, poking their heads out from under the white snow, looked freezing cold.

“Why are these here?” I asked as I cocked my head to the side.

Looking awkward, Toochika-san explained. “In the Edo period, they were used as an abortion drug… To a certain extent, they’re very appropriate for a place like this.”

“Oh… I see.” My reply was interrupted by a gulp. Although Kinme had told me not to worry, a pang shot through my chest, and I stopped in my tracks.

Now that I looked at the building again, I could see that it was built in a way characteristic of a brothel.

When I heard the name “Harimise,” the first thing that came to mind was a room facing the street with a wooden grille set in the wall. I’d come across images of such rooms in books that described Yoshiwara. Once, an establishment would have lined the women it sold along the interior of that grille, displaying them to customers walking past in the street outside. But here in the spirit realm version of Yoshiwara, something else occupied the space those women would have.

“It’s beautiful.”

Beyond the grille, as if enshrined there, grew a wisteria plant, its bluish-purple flowers like bells.

Those wisteria flowers were a symbol of refinement; they fluttered lightly every time the wind blew, and bravely withstood the snow that came dancing in through the grille. The sight of the glimmerflies flitting playfully between the flowers was beautiful, though it had an otherworldly air.

Hasn’t wisteria been a symbol of women since ancient times? It seems that in the spirit realm, too, this place belongs to us…

“Kaori, you’re gonna freeze if you just stand there. Come on, let’s go.”

As I stood there in a daze, staring at the magical scene, Suimei pushed me lightly in the back.

With a start, I resumed walking.

I trod down the narrow path, pushing aside the Chinese lantern plants that covered the entire face of the building, and entered the shop to see two small figures.

“Welcome. Please come in.”

“The young mistress is waiting for you.”

They were little servant girls, about five years old, with straight hair that fell all the way to their waists. One of them wore an ornate hairpin with a plum blossom design and the other one a cherry blossom design. They were dressed in matching kimono.

With sweet smiles, the two of them began to walk gracefully farther into the shop. We took off our shoes and followed them.

“Wow!”

The inside of the brothel was the very definition of extravagance. The pillars were lacquered with vermilion, and the transoms that demarcated the rooms bore exquisite designs. Wisteria in full bloom were painted on the fusuma sliding screens, making for a beautiful contrast between the elegant purple of the flowers and the vermilion furnishings. This went on for room after room.

However, unlike the Yoshiwara of the human world that had flourished as a working brothel, in this spirit realm Yoshiwara there was not a soul to be seen. An odd melancholy hung in all these magnificent, spacious rooms.

At last we came to the heart of the building. Here we found an atrium courtyard with a well crowned with snow and a great wisteria tree. Though blanketed with white snow, the tree’s purple petals fluttered about, making it look just like a painting.

The two servant girls looked back over their shoulders at us.

“Please go up to the Winter Room on the second floor.”

“There are drinks laid out for you.”

We climbed the creaking stairs and came to a long corridor. Along the dimly lit corridor were several rooms, each one depicting a Japanese season. The two girls stopped in front of a fusuma decorated with a pine tree buried in snow and crouched down, one on each side of the screen, to reach out and touch it.

“Fuguruma-youbi-sama!” said one.

“Kami-oni-sama!” said the other.

“You have visitors,” they said in unison.

The fusuma juddered open.

What waited for us beyond it? As I swallowed hard, I saw someone sitting on the other side of the screen. Two someones.

“Toochika!”

One of them was a stunningly beautiful young woman. Her hair, as white as the first snowfall of the season, spread out around her on the tatami, glossy in the light of the glimmerflies. Her skin was so pale, it was as if her blood was transparent. Because of this, her fingertips and cheeks, which were tinged with scarlet, really drew the eye. The effect was extremely erotic.

Her pale violet eyes, framed by long eyelashes, slanted upward, suggesting a strong-willed nature. Lipstick painted her soft lips scarlet, the same color that tinted the outer corners of her eyes.

The double-layered bridal robe she wore over her kimono was the white of morning mist infused with the hue of sunrise. At first glance, I thought it was plain, but when I took a good look at it, I realized that it was embroidered with a thread that was a subtly different shade of white, picking out a delicate spread of wisteria flowers. From the look of it, the undercoat was of high-quality cloth as well, and the white wisteria flowers embroidered upon it were amazingly detailed.

“Come here, Toochika. Have you brought me another new book?!” Blushing attractively, she smiled and began to crawl toward him on all fours.

But her face twisted immediately. The person behind her had pulled her hair. With a bitter look on her face, she turned back to stare at the man.

“I’m in the middle of doing your hair, Youbi,” he said. “Stay here in my arms.”

“Waaah, you’re so annoying! Hurry up and finish it!”

Unhappily, the young woman thumped the splendid pink obi tied in front of her stomach, clearly wanting to be next to Toochika-san. The man stifled a laugh and unhurriedly brushed through the woman’s hair with the comb in his hand, as if there was no need at all for him to rush.

The man had a completely different air than the young woman. If she was the drifting snow, he was the shadow that fell across it.

His hair was so dark brown as to be almost black. It was long and piled high on top of his head. His tanned skin had obviously seen plenty of sun, and there was a large, tear-shaped mole under one of his clear eyes. His hooked nose was a little twisted, and the corners of his mouth were always turned upward. The clothes in which he was wrapped were jet black and finely patterned; from his obi dangled a tobacco pouch, made from the same cloth as the woman’s bridal robe, and a pipe.

“Besides, dressing your hair is my job, Youbi. I want to be sincere in my work. I can’t possibly rush.”

“Then why are you wasting time talking? When are you going to finish my pompadour?”

“Well, now. I can’t say for certain.”

“Oh, come on, Kami-oni! Give me a break!” she pouted.

Chuckling, the man started to move his hands again. His eyes, the olive-green of a Japanese nightingale, were trained with rapt attention on the woman’s hair. Every time he moved, his ornate hairpin—usually considered to be a woman’s accessory—shook.

They’re completely immersed in their own world…

I wondered whether it would be all right to say that. As I dithered in spite of myself, Toochika-san cleared his throat with a cough. That seemed to bring them back to reality. Letting out a little cry, the woman hastily straightened up and offered us zabuton.

“Forgive me for not greeting you at once. Apart from Toochika, it seems I haven’t met any of you before. We are meeting for the first time. I am Fuguruma-youbi. And this persistent man who will not stop playing with my hair is Kami-oni.”

“I’m not playing with it. I’m admiring it.”

“Kami-oni, shush for a while. You’re such a pain. Just be quiet.”

“Hee hee. Your cold attitude is so amusing, Youbi! I’ll concentrate on doing your hair, shall I?”

What characters they are… I stared at the two of them in a daze.

Meanwhile, Suimei frowned, and Kinme clutched his belly and laughed.

“You two are as interesting as ever.” With a shrug, Toochika-san told us all about them.

Fuguruma-youbi was, in short, the spirit of a love letter. A spirit depicted in Toriyama Sekien’s A Horde of Haunted Housewares, she had taken shape from the attachments dwelling within the love letter’s undelivered sentiments.

As for Kami-oni, in truth, no one was sure how he’d come to be. In Japan, since ancient times it’s been believed that hair possesses special powers. Many things, both good and bad, are locked up within each long, thin strand of hair. It was said that Kami-oni was hair itself that became an oni; it was also said that a woman’s grudge had haunted a man and that, as a consequence, his hair had grown unceasing.

“So what kind of spirit are you really?” Toochika-san asked.

“Hee hee…” Smiling meaningfully, Kami-oni reached up and touched the hairpin on top of his head.

The hairpin uttered a single word. “Cuckoo!”

Apparently, he had no intention of giving a straight answer. After he made the little tin cuckoo cheep, he went back to stroking Fuguruma-youbi’s hair, humming to himself.

Looking very small where she was sitting on Kami-oni’s lap, Fuguruma-youbi let out a sigh. “Please forget about it. He’s so weird about all that. Even I can’t get an answer out of him.”

“Ha ha… Is that right?” Toochika-san smiled uneasily at Fuguruma-youbi, who looked absolutely exhausted, and changed the subject. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t come here today to deliver a book.”

“Huh? Is that so? What a shame…”

“Sorry. When there’s new stock in, I’ll bring you something right away.”

“That sounds wonderful! Now I’m looking forward to your next visit even more. Don’t worry about the price, just bring me lots!”

I wonder what kind of relationship these two have.

As I was pondering the nature of their exchange, Toochika-san explained it to me.

“Fuguruma-youbi is an old friend. I sell love stories to her directly, wholesale.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“She likes to keep the things that she wants with her. That’s why she hasn’t had anything to do with your bookstore.”

“Parting with a book that you’ve come to love? What a horrible idea!” Fuguruma-youbi said irritably, turning away.

I’d expected there to be spirits who thought like this, but this was the first time I’d actually met one. “Do you have a great many books, Fuguruma-youbi?” I asked her, my interest piqued.

Fuguruma-youbi nodded proudly and exchanged glances with the two servant girls who were waiting behind her. They slid open the fusuma at the back of the room.

“Wow!”

On the other side of the screen, I beheld a vast bookcase that took up an entire wall. Everything from novels to manga and magazines was lined up along it.

As I sat there amazed, Fuguruma-youbi laughed. “This is nothing,” she said, grinning boldly.

The servant girls, who had moved gracefully into the room, opened another fusuma.

I’m st-st-stunned!

“No way…”

As the screens were opened up one by one, new bookshelves appeared. It seemed we were sitting in the middle of what had originally been one enormous room that was now partitioned by sliding screens. There were bookshelves stuffed with love stories as far as the eye could see.

“I intend to get a hold of everything that bears the name of romance. I’ve been able to collect these so far, but I have a long way to go… There’s such a lot of material…” Fuguruma-youbi let out a sigh, her cheeks dusted the pink of cherry blossoms. She really did seem to love romantic stories from the bottom of her heart.

In which case—she might know of a love story that Suimei could read!

I gazed at her expectantly. She tilted her head to one side with a wondering look.

Eyes sparkling, I made my heartfelt plea.

 

“Tee hee hee… I’ve been waiting for a chance to put my skills to use like this.” Fuguruma-youbi gazed at the spines of her books, all neatly in rows.

“Please find something that Suimei will enjoy.”

In response to my request, she picked out book after book.

“A little bit farther to that side, Kami-oni! Hurry up!”

“I understand.”

“Whoa…”

However, I didn’t know what to do about the scene unfolding before my eyes.

In the middle of my field of vision, a pair of white feet were kicking. They were lovely feet, with nails painted red. Above them, I caught fleeting glimpses of a deep crimson underrobe which I could see inside. I couldn’t even see her upper body anymore. Every time she reached out a hand, her skirt loosened and her soft fair skin peeked through.

“Suimei!”

“I’m not looking. I’m not looking at her at all, so get off me!”

“No! Never!”

Frantically covering Suimei’s eyes, I looked away from the lascivious behavior taking place right beside us.

“Toochika-san! What on earth is going on?!” I demanded, unthinking.

He answered as if it were nothing. “Fuguruma-youbi has a problem with her legs, so Kami-oni is carrying her.”

“I’m not just carrying her. From time to time, I sniff the scent of her hair.”

“Shut up, Kami-oni!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Amazing… This is too much fun. I should’ve brought Ginme along!”

Kinme was the only one who was just enjoying himself. Fuguruma-youbi was pulling on Kami-oni’s cheek, Kami-oni himself was rapt with pleasure, I couldn’t move because I was covering Suimei’s eyes… Frankly, it was chaos.

“I get it! You two are good friends! Enough already!” I shouted, unable to stop myself.

“I don’t like him one bit,” Fuguruma-youbi said in a chilly voice from within Kami-oni’s arms, clearly annoyed.

“What…?” I gaped.

“Kami-oni seems to like me, but, frankly, I can’t stand him.”

Overcome, I stared at Kami-oni. He laughed, blushing faintly.

“You’re so cold today,” he said. “But that has its own charm. Feelings that fan the flames of my desire with all their strength…are good.”

“So those are your tastes?” I asked without thinking.

His face as fresh as an unclouded sky, Kami-oni nodded.

What the heck is with this guy…? I slumped.

Fuguruma-youbi merely continued choosing books. “I just use him for my own convenience because he says he likes me. I’ve told him to hurry up and find a girl he likes and leave me, but he’s still here.”

“My heart will always belong to you. I mean, I’m not proud of it, but I’m not resourceful. If you weren’t providing for me, Youbi, I’d wither away after a week.”

“You want me to pay for your room and board, is that it?”

“No, absolutely not. It’s because I love your hair more than anything.”

“Eep!” Fuguruma-youbi suddenly went pale.

Taking advantage of her momentary lapse, Kami-oni breathed in a lungful of air.

He’s really sniffing her hair, isn’t he? This guy… I was getting a little bored, so I took my hands away from Suimei’s eyes and changed the subject. “Well, never mind that! How about it? Have you found a nice book yet?”

Fuguruma-youbi stuck out her small lips in a pout and groaned. “As far as romance goes, if you don’t understand the characters, you won’t enjoy it.”

“‘Understand’?” I cocked my head, not following.

Suimei listened carefully as well, his interest piqued.

“It doesn’t just apply to romance. Everyone does this unconsciously when they’re reading a book—they entrust their own desires to the characters. Whether that’s the thought that they want to be recognized by somebody, or the wish for mutual affection between them and the man they love, or the dream of adventuring in strange lands. They express desires that they are unlikely to satisfy in reality. Unless something unexpected happens, characters in stories are successful, aren’t they? That’s where people find the fun in stories.” Fuguruma-youbi’s gaze slipped along the spines of the books lining her bookshelves.

“Given that, whether you can lose yourself in a book and in the story within it…depends on whether the characters are worthy of being entrusted with your desires. No one would entrust something important to someone whose motivations they didn’t fully understand.”

Fuguruma-youbi flashed an impish grin at me, Suimei, and Kinme. “I’m the incarnation of a love letter, right? People inscribe their very hearts upon me. The cries of their soul, their heartfelt prayers, their wishes. So I can understand people’s hearts clearly. Take that girl over there, for example.”

“Huh? Me?” Startled, I pointed at myself.

The red-tinted outer corners of Fuguruma-youbi’s eyes turned down, and she said, as if rapt, “Isn’t your mind saying that you aren’t familiar with romance in the first place? Your heart can be charmed, but you don’t know what to do with it… Hee hee, you’re so innocent. Even as the years pass, your loving heart is still that of a babe. How charming! You would be well matched with a fresh young heroine who doesn’t know anything. And then there’s you, white-haired boy.”

“What?!”

“It must be hard for you. Everything is unfamiliar. Thrown into a strange culture with nothing but the shirt on your back… Every time you shiver with cold, you realize there’s something warm right next to you. You don’t understand that it’s all right to touch it, but day by day your attachment grows stronger.”

“Stop.” Suimei cut Fuguruma-youbi off, his face tense with alarm.

She let out a laugh like pealing bells. “Forgive me,” she said sincerely. “For you, white-haired boy, it must be a tale of intermarriage with strange beings. You would suit a hero who plunges into an unfamiliar culture.”

Then she glanced at Kinme to size him up. “And you there, you’re the most troublesome of them all. You consider your world complete. Every one of your smiles is transient. You might pretend to be easily flattered, but your emotions are the murkiest of all. How eerie! You’re not similar to anyone at all, young man.”

Maintaining a smile, Kinme looked intently at Fuguruma-youbi. “How disappointing. Am I really that murky?”

“Oh my. Don’t you have any self-awareness? Heavens, that’s even scarier!” Fuguruma-youbi buried her face in Kami-oni’s chest. Moving only her eyes to glance our way, she said, “Well, there’s just one thing that I want to say. Look for characters who are similar to you. Then entrust your hearts to them. If they’re similar enough, you’ll have a deeper understanding of them than anyone else, you see? If you choose books like that, it will work out. I’ll help you.”

Then she took a paperback from the nearest shelf and handed it to Suimei.

“Choosing books means confronting yourself.”

 

***

 

We spent some time selecting books. Once I’d checked the one Suimei had started to read, I moved away to catch my breath.

Fuguruma-youbi’s personal library was so extensive that I was worn out even though we’d just selected books. The main book collector herself, however, was full of energy as she enjoyed a drink with Toochika-san.

“Here’s a drink for you,” she cooed.

“Oh, thanks!”

“When can you swing by next?”

“Well, now… I’ll drop by when work settles down for a bit. And I’ll bring tons of new books.”

“Hmph! Don’t be so mean. Shouldn’t you be saying ‘I’ll come tomorrow,’ even if that’s not true? Waaah, look at me! Toochika…”

As I watched them from a distance, for some reason I said what I was thinking. “She’s a wily one. I really am ‘innocent,’ after all…” I grumbled to myself as I watched Fuguruma-youbi, mixed feelings stirring inside me. I understood that I was terribly obtuse when it came to matters of love. So why was I getting cross that somebody else had told me what I already knew?

“Oh, Kaori’s angry! That’s rare!” In contrast to me, Kinme laughed away. He seemed particularly unoffended.

“I do get angry, you know!”

“Hmm, really?” Kinme teased me.

I glared sharply at him.

Stretching his legs out on the tatami, he laughed loudly. “I’m ‘murky,’ right?” he said in his usual tone, and he gave me a flippant smile. “I didn’t even mind a remark like that.”

“‘Murky’?” I asked hesitantly.

Kinme blinked rapidly in surprise. He tipped his head to one side. “Yeah. Did you hear that?”

Something in his words was more apathetic than usual. I swallowed lightly. But I was worried about him, so I gathered my courage. “But you didn’t deny it just now.”

“That’s my old friend. You’re a sharp one!” he teased me, then glanced over at Fuguruma-youbi. “My emotions are always murky. I won’t deny it, since it’s true,” he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

“You said you had no need of love. Does that have something to do with it?” I asked, choosing my words carefully.

Kinme smiled. “Yeah. I think it’s a common mistake that people make. Humans are in heat all year round. It always ends badly for spirits who are attracted to humans. The same goes for spirit couples. I don’t understand why two spirits who like each other would become a couple only to bicker all the time.”

He played with his bangs, then let out a huff of air that blew it all over the place. “It’s just like that woman said. Everything within me is complete. I don’t need a partner or anything. I’m happy just going round and round the same places… I don’t need new scenery. Sooner or later, everything gets mixed up together and becomes muddy—murky. Almost like churned butter.”

The corners of Kinme’s mouth turned upward cheerfully as he told me all this in a singsong voice. My mind immediately began to fill with questions—somehow I felt that, right now, he would tell me anything.

“Is there anyone else in your world, Kinme?”

With a lightness that suggested it was only common sense, he spoke a certain person’s name. “Ginme. We’re twins, so shouldn’t that be obvious?”

Kinme and Ginme are raven Tengu twins. I’d first met the two of them when I was about five years old.

I’d found the twin chicks in the long grass of a beautiful springtime forest. Looking about, I hadn’t see their mother anywhere; all I could see were the two chicks, cheeping pitifully. That, and the wreckage of their nest, destroyed by the impact of its fall. I picked them up and took them to the Great Tengu. Those two helpless chicks grew into raven spirits and then came back to me. Since then, we had spent our time together like siblings.

“When we broke through the shell of our eggs and were born into this world; when we fell to the ground and were abandoned by our mother; when we were starving and prepared ourselves for death, it was Ginme who was always there by my side. You should know that, Kaori.”

“That’s true.”

“As long as I have Ginme, I’m fine. ‘I want to fall in love, I want to find a partner…’ Don’t you think people think these things because they’re lacking something? They want to make up for whatever it is they’re missing. If they already had everything they needed, they wouldn’t think like that. That’s how it is for me.”

Round and round, round and round…

Certainly, Kinme always frequented the same few places. That was his world, and he clung to it so very tightly. It hadn’t changed since the time when he waited in that little nest for his mother to return. In his round, cut-off, nest-like world, with Ginme always by his side, Kinme was complete.

“But everyone tells me to find a mate someday. It’s really stupid.”

He screwed up his face in irritation. He almost never made a face like that.

Letting out a quiet breath, I told him my honest feelings. “For you, Ginme is the one and only, the most important person, isn’t he…?” I murmured softly.

For just a moment, Kinme was lost for words.

“That’s…right.”

I paused, unable to read the expression on his face.

In a flash, his expression changed, and he said happily, “Speaking of Ginme… Recently, he’s been trying really hard.”

“Is that so?”

“Just today, he was so enthusiastic about going to meditate under the waterfall, even though it’s so damn cold. He’s been boasting about his six-pack. I think he’s enjoying seeing the results of his hard work. He doesn’t like making an effort, but despite appearances, he does well when he really tries…” Kinme’s expression grew somewhat ambivalent. “You should go and visit him on Mt. Kurama soon. He’s been saying that he wants to show you the results of his training, Kaori.”

Kinme was returning, little by little, to his usual tone. I was bewildered, but I nodded.

He gave me a cheerful smile. “Ginme will be pleased. Thanks, Kaori.”

Yeah. I let out a carefree laugh.

“Indeed…”

I suddenly realized that someone was standing behind me. Startled, I looked back and saw Kami-oni, nodding in agreement.

“How interesting!” he cried, sitting down between Kinme and me with a thump. Taking no notice of our scowls of annoyance, he looked at Fuguruma-youbi with half-closed eyes and spoke earnestly himself. “You’ve been thinking about this and that, but you’re not in love. Finding a partner isn’t necessary. There’s no need to think so deeply about it.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked, unable to stand his self-confident attitude.

Puffing on his pipe, he answered, “You can’t fall in love and stay sane.”

“S-sane?”

Kami-oni smiled at his own cryptic statement and thrust the pipe at me.

“It is easy to be single. Whatever you do, you’re free, and there’s no need to worry about someone else. But I am in love. I’ve taken the risk of letting someone else into my territory. And why? Because I was drawn to her. My heart was stolen by the fragrance wafting from that bewitchingly glossy hair of hers!” He tapped the end of the pipe against my shoulder. “I’m hopelessly caught up in her. I want to know more about her; I want to be by her side.” He tapped my arms, my wrists, my thighs. “I want to touch her. If I could touch her, I’d be happy. I want her to touch me.”

And then…he tapped his pipe in the center of my chest.

“I want her to know me, and to know my heart. The moment I thought that, it was love. It’s useless to think about messy, difficult things. By that point, you’re already insane.”

A shock ran through me. My heart began to race, and the blood rushed to my face.

Kami-oni gazed at me with his olive-green eyes, smiling in satisfaction. “Youngster. The time is now. Live impulsively. There’s no reason to hesitate. Follow your heart! Who cares about logic? Throw it away. Step into the castle of madness.”

When he had finished saying this, he put his other hand on Kinme’s head to draw him close. “Young Tengu. Everyone thinks that fitting into the mold will make them happy. Sometimes we say painful things, thinking it’s for the best.”

“Will you give it a rest?” Kinme said with great annoyance from within Kami-oni’s arms. “I hate being preached at.”

“Ha ha. To me, you looked just like you were chirping from within your nest, desperate for someone to notice you.”

“Agh!” Kinme shook off Kami-oni’s hand and glared at him.

But Kami-oni deftly avoided Kinme’s gaze. His face took on a cheerful expression. “I apologize for sounding preachy. The older I get, the more of a hopeless busybody I become.” He combed through his hair with his fingers, looking philosophical. “Entrenched ideas sometimes transform into something else, and we bare our fangs at people who are important to us. It is very simple for affection to become a curse. Do not create something as warped as me.”

Kami-oni was a spirit whose hair would never stop growing; he was haunted by a woman’s hatred. As if he had just remembered this, Kinme listened patiently to what he was saying.

“Whoever the other person is, whatever kind of person they may be…there’s no need to become subservient. No one can stop their heart being drawn to someone. So it is good to suffer. That’s love; whichever point your emotions reach, that’s love. Forget what others think about you!”

“Ha.”

I realized that Kinme’s shoulders were shaking.

“Ha ha ha ha…”

The shaking grew more pronounced as his laughter got louder, until at last he clutched his belly and roared with laughter.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Just as sanctimonious as I expected. Oof, how ridiculous!”

“Huh? But I’m not kidding!”

“I don’t need you to tell me that. More importantly than that…” Pointing to a certain spot in the room, Kinme asked in an amused tone, “Are you all right with that?”

“Uuugh!” As soon as he saw it, Kami-oni let out a distressed groan. He was looking at Fuguruma-youbi.

Perhaps she was feeling pleasantly tipsy… Or perhaps it was part of a cunning plan to win over a regular customer. I don’t know which, but she was snuggled up against Toochika-san, spellbound. “Toochika…”

“Noo, that uncle’s got me beat!”

Fuguruma-youbi seemed bewitched by the red-faced, drunken Toochika-san. A pinkish atmosphere floated about them that made one want to avoid looking straight at them.

This is bad! I trembled with fear as I foresaw the carnage about to unfold.

“Enough!” Kami-oni said, trembling.

“Come again?”

“Youbi blushing in another man’s arms. I can’t bear it!” Kami-oni’s tanned cheeks were flushed. His attention fixed on Fuguruma-youbi and Toochika; he clenched his fist and suddenly got to his feet, glaring at them.

“Is this what turns you on?” I said to his back without thinking.

Looking back over his shoulder, Kami-oni flashed me a lively smile and gave me a decisive nod.

Kinme and I exchanged glances and both slumped at the same time.

“It takes all kinds of spirits, I guess…”

“I’m exhausted. Good grief…”

We giggled.

“This is tough, isn’t it?”

“It sure is.”

We shared an awkward smile.

 

Leaving Toochika-san to drink the night away, the three of us headed home. We went down the creaking stairs and out into the courtyard garden, where the wisteria bloomed in all its glory.

Even in the land of perpetual night that was the spirit realm, the temperature dropped as it got late. Perhaps because it was so cold that my fingertips were numb, the air felt clearer than ever. Crimson-tinted starlight poured down from the cut-out square of the night sky, beautifully adorning the bluish-purple wisteria flowers.

“Well, I never. He’s dozed off and dropped his book.”

Kinme wriggled to adjust the position of Suimei, whom he was carrying on his back, as he trod carefully over the frozen floorboards.

I smiled slightly as I followed behind them. “He came all the way here for it, but I guess it didn’t suit him after all.”

Kinme and I had laughed when we caught sight of Suimei, who had fallen asleep with his book still clutched in his hand as he listened to the scene of small-scale carnage playing out between Kami-oni and Fuguruma-youbi.

“She might have told us to find characters who are similar to us, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to come across them straightaway.”

“Right.”

Encounters with both people and books can be once-in-a-lifetime events. Perhaps it’s fate that brings us together.

“I hope that someday Suimei finds a book he can really get absorbed in.” I peeked at Suimei’s sleeping face as I spoke.

Fringed with long eyelashes, his eyes twitched, and from time to time opened slightly. As expected, he couldn’t sleep soundly outside. He kept crossing back and forth over the threshold between dreams and reality.

“Huh?”

Just then, I met the gaze of Suimei’s light brown eyes. Blinking slowly, he called my name and reached out a hand.

“Kaori…” He meaninglessly tapped me on the head, then fell asleep again.

“Eh?” Red-faced, I stared at Suimei, who slept peacefully on Kinme’s back. What does it mean? What does this behavior mean?!

My head was all muddled, and sweat ran down my whole body. Crouching down where I was, I realized that Kinme was trying not to laugh.

“If you’re going to laugh, just go ahead and laugh, damn it!”

“Ah ha ha ha ha!” Kinme grinned. “I wonder if it’s love?”

“Who knows?!”

“I’d appreciate it if you and Suimei did get together, Kaori.”

“Don’t be selfish!” I yelled.

Laughing loudly, Kinme went on ahead of me, his steps light, leaving me there all alone.

I sighed.

Lifting my head suddenly, I found myself faced with the wisteria flowers that were blooming out of season.

The scene of petals fluttering down onto the white snow was profoundly unseasonal, and its beauty frightened me. With a small shiver, I tried to hurry after Kinme and Suimei.

“Why? Why can I not be with him?”

Then I suddenly heard a woman’s voice.

Panicking, I looked around me, but there was no one there. In the meantime, the woman continued to whisper. Trying to calm my pounding heart, I moved gingerly toward the direction of the voice.

I came to a small well at the base of the wisteria plant. The wooden lid was down, and I couldn’t see inside. But I was sure that this was the origin of the voice.

“Did someone throw themselves down here in the past?” As that horrible thought churned in my mind, my entire body broke out in goosebumps.

N-no no no. That can’t be. It must be pretty deep, so it would have taken a long time to adapt to the spirit realm, that’s all. There’s no danger. There…shouldn’t be any danger.

Covering both my ears with my hands, I tried to turn back…and gave up. The woman’s voice had said something I could not ignore.

“Normal love was impossible for me.”

This woman, who was nothing but a voice to me, began to tell the touching tale of her misfortune.

“I was raised in the red-light district. I should have lived my whole life within its walls. Normal love belonged to the outside world; it was something I could not have, something I could not reach for…”

“Stop!” I cried out in spite of myself. But the woman’s voice was ingrained in that place, and it continued automatically. Her heartbroken cries, growing closer and closer to sobs, flowed on, unaware that anyone was listening.

“I thought I loved him. No, I still love him, even now. I adore him. I want to touch him. I want him to smile at me. I hoped to marry him, even though I was a prostitute, even though I was not a normal person!”

“Stop…” I weakly implored the well, sinking to the ground. The snow was cold. The violent crimson of the starlight stung my eyes and made my vision begin to blur.

“I had already given up.”

I couldn’t speak.

“If I had only come to a decision more quickly, I would not have suffered so…”

“Ohh…”

“I could never be like a normal person! And yet, I—”

“Shut up!” I screamed, trying to cut off the woman’s voice.

Just then, a scene from my high school days floated into my mind.

Everyone else was happily enjoying their youth as I watched enviously from a gloomy spot. My excuse was always the same.

After all…I was brought up in the spirit realm.

Yeah, it was a real shame.

Being so wistful, not having the courage to approach the others, ending up passing those three years without making a move! I couldn’t help feeling ashamed of myself.

I dragged the lid off the well with all my might and shouted down into it. “This time! I’m not going to run away!”

Then I set off running at a wild pace to catch up with Kinme and Suimei.

Kinme had been waiting for me in front of Harimise. As soon as he saw my face, his own face took on a surprised expression. “What happened? Are you crying?”

“Ack!”

Wiping away the tears that had begun to well up with my sleeve, I turned to Kinme—who was still carrying Suimei on his back—and said, “That was weird!”

“Huh?”

Clearly, he didn’t understand what I meant.

Taking another deep breath, I pointed to Suimei, who was sound asleep. “It seems I’ve already lost my mind. I’m in love with Suimei.”

For a second, Kinme looked dumbfounded. Then he exploded into laughter. “Is that so?” Smiling affectionately, he stuck his fist out in front of him. “I hope he reciprocates. I’ll be cheering you on.”

I nodded, my face serious, and bumped my fist against Kinme’s. “Thanks for the support.”

His face splitting into a broad grin, Kinme nodded. “Any time.”