Volume 1 - CH 3.4

“Aren’t you Baron Hanabishi from yesterday?”

The old man looked at Takafuyu and Suzuko with obvious suspicion. His face said, “You’re here again?”

“I don’t believe you know this, but I am the chief priest of a shrine,” Takafuyu said with a friendly smile. “I can also do exorcisms. If a ghost is troubling you, I can help.”

The old man’s eyes widened. “Is that true, sir?” He fell onto the dirt floor and clung to Takafuyu.

“Can you truly do an exorcism? We have been dedicating nembutsu to…the madam every day, but it doesn’t work at all.”

“By nembutsu, you’re referring to what you were chanting earlier, yes? What exactly is it? It’s an unusual one,” Takafuyu said with a look of feigned ignorance.

“It is the nembutsu of the god that the madam believed in. I don’t know much about it, but we thought that since she believed in that god, it might work on her.”

“Dear,” the old woman said, coming up behind him. “How many times have I told you? It’s not a nembutsu.”

“Nembutsu is nembutsu, isn’t it?”

“It’s a divine song. The god’s song.”

“You are quite knowledgeable about this,” Takafuyu interrupted the couple’s argument. The old woman pursed her lips tightly and kept silent. She looked at Takafuyu with distrustful eyes.

Takafuyu sat down on the agarikamachi.1 “I know that is a divine song. There was a line that went, ‘Chihayafuru waga kokoro yori…’,2 yes?” he smiled at the old woman. “Buddhist mantras were mixed in as well. ‘Dakini vajradhatuvam’—Inari worship, perhaps?”

The old woman’s expression turned sullen. “Don’t group my deity together with a fox. I worship a god.”

“What is the god’s name?”

“Sanko-sama.”

“Sanko…” Takafuyu murmured.

“That’s what we call Ukemochi-no-kami-sama. The madam also worshipped Amaterasu Oomikoto-sama. We only worship Sanko-sama’s picture, though.”

“Picture? Do you mean the picture that the viscountess gave out?” Takafuyu leaned forward. “Could you show it to me?”

The old woman still seemed distrustful, but she reluctantly brought the drawing to them. It was a nishiki-e woodblock print. It depicted a three-faced, six-armed deity. The face at the front was that of a goddess, the right was a bird, and the left was either a dog or fox. Her six arms were in the shape of bird’s legs. Although the goddess was strange-looking, she didn’t seem terrifying because of her beautiful face and the celestial maiden-like garments she wore.

“I see,” Takafuyu glanced at the picture and nodded. “So you’re a part of the ‘Touka faith.’”

The old woman stared at Takafuyu in astonishment. Her round eyes were opened wide.

“You know it?”

“He’s a priest, you know,” the old man said from the side. The old woman glared at him, and he ducked his head.

“It’s a religion that was established during the Bakumatsu period, but it’s said that its origins go back much further. It’s one of the churches affiliated with Sect Shinto. I forget under which sect’s jurisdiction, though.”

“Yes, it’s as you say. That’s why it isn’t an evil religion. It’s not like what they say in the newspapers. They have never forced us to give donations or take all our money or anything like that.”

The old woman was probably on edge because she was afraid of her faith being treated as an “evil religion.”

“There were even people who were frightened by the madam, calling her a witch, but she was just an ordinary, elegant lady who dresses in the western style. She was gentle and seemed a bit lonely…it seemed like she was looking for salvation. That’s probably because the master treated her like a nuisance and shut her up in the villa.”

“Treated her like a nuisance?” Suzuko interjected for the first time. The old woman turned her gaze to her. Perhaps because she was used to seeing the viscountess, but she didn’t look particularly surprised when she saw Suzuko’s western clothes.”

“The master practically imprisoned her, calling her a crazy woman who was obsessed with religion. Despite the fact that he was being supported by his wife’s family. He lived in Tokyo and rarely bothered to check up on her.”

“But wasn’t he with his wife when she fell down the stairs?” Takafuyu asked to confirm.

“Yes, that’s right. That’s why I have my suspicions that the master pushed the madam down.”

“Oi,” the old woman tugged on the old woman’s sleeve. “Don’t say rash things like that.”

The old woman glowered at the old man and shook off his fingers.

“The only times when the master came here, which was rare, was when he came to tell the madam to give up on her religion. I’m sure they got into a fight and he pushed her away. That has to be why he was cursed and died soon afterwards.”

The old woman seemed confident in her theory, nodding her head vigorously as she spoke.

“The madam was already treated as a nuisance by her family and married off to get rid of her. She was such a pitiful person.”

“From her own family as well?” Suzuko said. Takafuyu continued after her. “You mean to say that she was forced onto the impoverished viscount’s family with the large dowry?”

The couple nodded in unison. “The madam’s family is wealthy, you know.”

Takafuyu crossed his arms, deep in thought.

“Was she considered a nuisance by her family because of her beliefs?”

“No. It’s a tragic tale to hear, so listen closely.”

The old woman suddenly moved her knees forward and drew closer to Takafuyu.

“The madam had someone she loved. Someone who wasn’t the master. She used to talk to me everyday, so I was the only one she told this to.”

“She had someone she loved, but they were torn apart and she was forced to marry?’

When Takafuyu interrupted her, the old woman said in annoyance, “It’s not that simple. Just listen to me.”

“Who do you think the other person was? It wasn’t the son of some noble. It was her family’s chauffeur.”

The old woman was watching Takafuyu and Suzuko’s reaction, but looked disappointed when they didn’t look surprised.

To be honest, it was a common story. The love affairs between a chauffeur and a nobleman’s wife, or a young lady. Daughters from respectable families, in particular, didn’t usually have the opportunity to interact with young men, so they tended to become intimate with their drivers and servants, who were familiar members of the opposite sex. It was only this past New Year’s when the story of the elopement of a viscount’s daughter with her chauffeur made headlines, and a year ago there was also an elopement between a chauffeur and a countess, and before that, there was also a case of a double suicide.

The old woman cleared her throat and resumed her story.

“The driver also loved the madam, and they had a secret love affair. Unfortunately, the driver fell ill. It was a sickness of the lungs. Tuberculosis.”

“He had consumption?” Takafuyu asked, and the old woman nodded.

Tuberculosis, which spread to urban areas as a result of industrialization, had become a societal problem, and the Tuberculosis Prevention Law was promulgated for the first time last year. It had a strong impression as a lung disease, but it affected the whole body. The highest consumption mortality rate at this time was, not surprisingly, in Tokyo.

“The driver relocated somewhere else for a change of air in order to improve his health, and the madam prayed to various deities for his recovery. But in the end, the driver died. The madam was of course heartbroken, and even contemplated following him into death. It was thanks to Sanko-sama that she had been able to reconsider and decide to live. I was deeply moved when I heard her story. She had been through a lot of pain. She told me that even though she lived a luxurious life, she had been lonely since she was a child because no one around her understood her. And just when she thought she finally had a lover who understood her, he died. The people of her family ostracized her and quickly married her off. Her groom’s family only wanted her money, and she herself was shut up inside a villa and treated as a nuisance. Isn’t that awful?”

The old woman sniffled. It seemed that she was easily moved to tears by tales of tragic love. The old man didn’t seem moved at all, picking up the dust from the wooden floor and throwing it onto the dirt floor, looking uncomfortable.

Takafuyu thoughtfully stroked his chin with his fingertip. Suzuko was thinking about the viscountess. That unhappy viscountess whose family got rid of her by marrying her off, had no place to belong at her new home, and was imprisoned in a villa.

So she sought salvation in faith.

Was she wearing that jet ornament in mourning for the driver? Or was it for another reason?

“I’d like to see her ghost,” Takafuyu said. The old woman wiped the corners of her eyes with her apron.

“Can you truly exorcise her? I feel pity for the madam remaining in that state.”

“I can’t promise anything without seeing her first, but I think it would be fine.”

The smell of incense thickened, To Suzuko, it felt as though Awaji no Kimi was licking her lips.

The old couple took the key and walked out the front door. Suzuko and Takafuyu followed them. The villa could be seen beyond the garden trees. The old couple didn’t go to the front door, but went around to the back.

“You can see her through this window,” the old man said. On this side, facing the sea, there was a terrace with a sliding glass door. There was a three-story tower structure built on the south side of the mansion. It was said that the viscountess fell down the stairs of that tower.

In the room with the terrace, the sliding door had lace curtains, and through the thin fabric, they saw a shadow moving. Aah, the old couple let out small moans and backed away.

“That’s her…” the old man whispered and hid behind his wife’s back.

A woman in somber navy-blue western clothing was gliding around the room. No, rather than gliding, it was more like she was suddenly disappearing and reappearing in a different place. One moment she was in front of a chest of drawers at the end of the room, but the moment you blink, she was by a table in the center of the room. It didn’t look like she was walking at all, and she had the odd appearance of not looking like a living person.

Her hair was pulled back into a bun, and she wore a navy-blue one-piece dress with a long skirt. She was bent forward. Those were the only things they could see through the lace curtains, and they couldn’t make out her facial features.

The smell of incense rose in the air. Before Suzuko knew it, Awaji no Kimi had appeared next to her. She moved smoothly.

Wait.

Just as she was about to say that aloud, Awaji no Kimi stopped dead in front of the terrace.

Suzuko briefly wondered if she could read her thoughts, but that wasn’t the case. Awaji no Kimi’s figure swayed like smoke and scattered. Takafuyu looked around. A barrier? Suzuko heard him mutter.

“Did the viscountess bury something in the garden?”

The old couple tilted their heads at Takafuyu’s sudden question, but the old man immediately said, “Oh, come to think of it,” and clapped his hands.

“There was, there was. If I remember correctly, there are things buried in the four corners of the grounds surrounding the house. She asked me to dig holes there to bury amulets, and I did it. How did you know that?”

“Please dig them out.”

“Huh?”

“They are the reason why I can’t perform the exorcism.”

“Oh…oh, I see.”

The old man nodded and immediately ran to the shed. He returned with a small shovel and headed for a corner of the mansion.

“I think it was around here…”

The old man seemed to have a rough idea of where it was and began digging. “I didn’t dig a very deep hole, so I think I’ll find it soon.”

True to his words, the tip of the shovel immediately hit something. There was a clang sound.

With a shout, the old man squatted down and dug the soil with his hands. Something that looked like a small golden figure appeared.

“Here it is…” the old man brushed off the dirt from the figure.

“A fox?” Suzuko murmured. It looked like a fox or a dog. It looked just like the guardian foxes that one might see at an Inari shrine.

“It seems to be a Shinko,” Takafuyu said. “This is the Daten doctrine.”

“Shinko? Daten?” Suzuko had never heard those words before.

“How should I put this—this is a kind of spell. She must have put these in four directions to ward off evil.”

When the remaining three directions were dug up, the same figure was found.

“They’re all made of gold. As expected of a wealthy family,” the old man was impressed with peculiar things.

“Does this mean that the barrier has disappeared?” Suzuko asked Takafuyu.

“Yes,” he replied, and slowly went up to the terrace. He peeked inside through the sliding door. Suzuko followed suit. The viscountess wasn’t in the room. Was she in a different room?

“Do you mind if we go inside?”

“Oh, yes, please feel free,” the old man, who was scrutinizing the gold figures, looked at the old woman. She went around to the front door with the key in her hand.

“Are you sure you want to go in? We won’t be coming to help you no matter what, I’m afraid.”

The old woman said as she inserted the key. “We’ll be fine,” Takafuyu laughed.

When they went inside, the smell of dust and mold hit them. It probably hadn’t been cleaned or ventilated in a long time. They left shoe prints when they walked around. Suzuko’s nose itched, and she covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

“Shall we go to the staircase of the tower where the viscountess fell down?” Takafuyu headed down the corridor toward the south side, where the tower was. “I wonder if the stairs are around here. Ah, here they are.”

When he opened the door at the end, there was a staircase there. It was a spiral staircase. It was a simple staircase with only metal plates. There were no carpets covering them, and each step was narrow. It certainly looked easy to slip from, and once you lost your footing, you were likely to fall to the bottom without being stopped halfway.

While ascertaining the condition of the stairs, they climbed the stairs to the third floor, where they found a large window with the sun shining through it, and a table and rattan chairs in front of it. The sea could be seen on the other side of the window. I see, so this is a place to view the sea, Suzuko understood.

Takafuyu opened the window. A gentle sea breeze came in. The smell of dust and mold disappeared, and Suzuko breathed out a sigh of relief.

“I think Sanko-sama refers to Sankoshin.”

Takafuyu said as the sea breeze blew.

“Sankoshin?”

“It is written with the characters of ‘three fox gods.’”

“Are they a fox?”

“No, they were originally called Miketsu-no-kami, a god that had nothing to do with foxes. By reading their name as Sankoshin, they became three fox gods. By fox, I don’t mean the animal, but fox people, sky foxes, and earth foxes—do you recall the drawing shown to us at the caretaker’s house?”

“Yes, the one with three faces and six arms.”

“That’s right. That god had the face of a goddess, a bird, and a fox. That is Sankoshin. That and the divine song. That song ends with, ‘Ware tanomu hito no negai o terasan to, ukiyo ni nokoru mittsu no tou.’3 That is the origin of the ‘Touka Faith’s’ name. Setting that aside, that song is the song of the Daten doctrine.”

“Ah…”

“The Ukemochi-no-kami thing and other stuff was most likely a front to get the government to recognize them. In reality, what the viscountess worshipped was Sankoshin. Well, I won’t get into the finer details, but to put it simply, it’s something like the Inari faith.”

“So, they are a fox after all?”

“Foxes are the messengers of Inari, not Inari themselves, but putting that aside, the Touka Faith is a belief centred on Sankoshin and the Daten doctrine. The Daten doctrine is the sudden attainment of siddhi4 and the realization of prayer. It is characterized by wish fulfillment and the benefits gained in this world through the observance of Buddhist teachings. ――I wonder what the viscountess wished for.”

What did she wish for…?

Suzuko looked down through the window. They were far from the ground, and she backed away in a panic, horrified by the height.

“It’s dangerous, Suzuko-san, come here.”

Takafuyu hugged her shoulders and pulled her back.

“The lovelier the view, the more dangerous it is.”

“Yes…”

The warmth of his hand on her shoulder made her feel restless. Takafuyu didn’t seem to notice Suzuko’s bewilderment and didn’t move his hand away.

“It’s fine to build a three-story villa for the view, but those stairs are terrifying. If there was at least a landing, the viscountess might have been saved. However, if it was a dangerous staircase, one would watch their step more closely instead. I do wonder if it was actually true that she slipped.”

Suzuko looked up at Takafuyu’s face.

“Do you think she was made to fall, just like the caretaker old man said?”

“Well, who can say? We won’t know no matter how much we think about it. If there’s anything we can know——”

Takafuyu looked back toward the door. Suzuko also looked there and gasped.

A woman in western clothing was there. She wore a dark blue dress that was as dark as the night sky and a jet necklace. She was bending forward, her pale face hanging down, her gaze downward. Suzuko thought she had a beautiful face, but she was thin, her cheeks gaunt and hollow, and it was painful to look at her. She was standing by the window, then quickly disappeared in a haze, and the next thing they knew she was by a wall.

“Didn’t you notice something?”

“Eh?”

“The viscountess kept appearing in various rooms, looking down with an unnatural forward-bending posture. Doesn’t it seem like she’s looking for something?”

“Looking for something…?”

Now that he pointed it out, it did seem as though she was searching for something that had fallen down.

Before they knew it, the viscountess had disappeared. Awaji no Kimi appeared along with the smell of incense. She turned into smoke and went downstairs.

“It seems that she is looking for the viscountess. She’ll be eaten soon.”

“…”

Suzuko looked around the room as the scent lingered in the air.

There was a rug on the parquet floor, and a table and rattan chairs on top of it. There were no other furnishings. Suzuko got down on her knees and looked under the table and chairs.

What the viscountess was looking for…it’s probably something small that fell onto the floor…an accessory?

An earring, ring, brooch, or pendant?

“An earring is the easiest thing to lose…”

Just as Suzuko considered searching another room, she caught sight of the outside of the window. Thinking that it might be possible, she leaned forward a little from the window sill. “Suzuko-san, that’s dangerous,” Takafuyu grabbed her arm in a panic, but she pointed out the window, disregarding him.

“Look at that.”

The outer wall protruded under the window, and a round silver object was caught there. She could probably pick it up if she reached out her hand.

“Suzuko-san, don’t do it. I’ll get it for you.”

Takafuyu pushed Suzuko into the room, grabbed the window frame and reached out. She felt more nervous than if she was doing it herself. Despite her worries, Takafuyu quickly came back up. He took out a handkerchief and wiped what he had picked up.

“It’s a pocket watch used by women. It must have been attached to a necklace and worn around the neck.”

Just as he said, it was a pocket watch. The chain was broken in the middle. Under what circumstances did it end up in such a place? It was about a size smaller than those used by men, had no cover, and had a densely detailed engraving on the back with fine lines.

“This is…”

Takafuyu hummed. The engraving depicted the same image of Sankoshin that the old woman had shown them earlier.

“Was this what she was looking for…?”

All that for this? She honestly thought.

The god of the Touka Faith. Was this proof of her faith?

Was this god that important to her?

To the point that she kept searching for it without even looking up after she died.

Suzuko didn’t understand that sort of intense piety. Was losing such a thing a regret so great that the viscountess couldn’t rest in peace?

But——.

“I don’t really understand what faith is, but…” Suzuko stared at the pocket watch. “I understand at least it was something important to the viscountess.”

It was something so important that she couldn’t pass on.

Ironically, it was probably because of that barrier that the viscountess couldn’t go outside. That was why she was unable to find this, which had fallen outside the window.

Suzuko grabbed the pocket watch and hurried downstairs. Unlike kimono, western clothes were convenient when you were in a hurry.

Looking for the viscountess, she left the tower, ran down the corridor, and headed for the living room. She was praying that Awaji no Kimi still hadn’t eaten her yet.

When she rushed into the living room, she saw the viscountess in her navy-blue outfit by the window. Right in front of her was Awaji no Kimi.

“—Ma’am!” Suzuko shouted. She held the pocket watch up high. “I found it. This is what you were looking for, yes?”

The viscountess lifted her head. Her cheeks were protruding and her eye sockets were hollow, but her eyes were firmly fixed on the pocket watch. Her eyes sparkled, and her face became suffused with the color of delight. In the next moment, the viscountess was right in front of Suzuko and clung to the pocket watch.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and just when Suzuko thought that they were going to fall to the floor, the viscountess’s figure faded and disappeared. No trace of her tears remained.

Only the pocket watch remained in Suzuko’s hand. Holding it close to her chest, Suzuko faced forward. Awaji no Kimi was staring at her with a demonic expression. The corners of her eyes, slanted upwards, were trembling, and her eyes seemed to be burning with wrath.5

Resisting the urge to back away, Suzuko glared back at Awaji no Kimi. The ghost slowly approached her. The smell of incense pierced through her brain, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Awaji no Kimi’s face got so close that it seemed as if it was going to touch hers, and then suddenly her body scattered into pieces. Only thin smoke and the scent remained.

She heard footsteps behind her. When she turned around, she saw Takafuyu. The smoke drifted toward him, coiled around him like a snake, and gradually disappeared.

“The viscountess disappeared. Because she found the pocket watch. I must have angered Awaji no Kimi.”

Takafuyu must have seen her expression as well. He was silent.

“I think I’ll continue to make her angry. Because I won’t do what she wants.”

Suzuko turned to face Takafuyu.

“Suzuko-san?”

Takafuyu looked perplexed.

“Now, I see it clearly. That thing is a ‘demon.’ It can’t be anything else. To think that we will be slaves to that thing for the rest of our lives.”

It’s all warped.

It was a comically strange story. Someday, when Suzuko gave birth to a child, that child would also have to feed that thing, and the same thing would repeat for eternity? Thinking about this, she felt strangely angry.

“I—I want to eradicate Awaji no Kimi.”

As she spoke, Suzuko’s will seemed to emerge with a definite outline. It was a thought that had been at the bottom of her heart for a long time.

“…Suzuko-san.” She could feel the perplexity in Takafuyu’s expression and voice. “We’ve tried to exorcise Awaji no Kimi in the past, but it all failed. That’s why no one attempts it anymore.”

“Just because we couldn’t do it in the past, why should we assume that we can’t do it now? I don’t know how far in the past you’re talking about, but it’s now Taisho, after the Meiji era.”

“If we don’t feed her ghosts, she will curse us.”

“Is that so?”

“Huh?”

“You also told me, ‘I don’t how much of this is the curse.’ Was it because of the curse that your grandfather and the others passed away? Do you know of any other cases of the curse?”

“No, I…”

“Let’s find out. The history of the Hanabishi family until now. We might be able to find a breakthrough. No, we will.”

“You say that, but…”

Takafuyu was looking at Suzuko with something like exasperation. But then, he began to laugh, as if he found something funny.

“No, you truly surprise me…” Takafuyu’s smile was both wry and somewhat happy.  “Very well. I’ll follow you.”

“Follow?”

“From the very beginning, it’s as if I’m serving you on hand and foot.”

Suzuko sometimes felt like Takafuyu used language that she didn’t understand. She didn’t get what he was talking about.

Takafuyu narrowed his eyes fondly.

“That was a confession of love just now.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

She muttered that without thinking, and Takafuyu’s shoulders shook as he laughed.