From afar the Five Peaks of Aso
resembled the sleeping form of a person.
From east to west, the peaks were: Neko [Root], Tall [Taka], Middle [Naka], Kishima [Mallet/Vajra Island], and Eboushi [Bird hat]. Neko Peak’s precipitous and rugged rock face looked like a person’s nose, mouth, and chin; the gently-sloping Tall Peak like a person’s chest; the smoking Middle Peak like part of a person’s naval.
Since ancient times the people of Aso had called this sleeping figure ‘Shakyamuni entering nirvana’.
But those who knew the cruel side of Aso’s fire mountains had another interpretation: that this was not Shakyamuni entering nirvana, but Asura’s sleeping form.
The snow had grown steadily heavier.
A car arrived at a lodge halfway up Eboushi Peak. The road appeared to be blanketed already; its tire grooves were white with ice and snow.
A young man in a suit got out of the driver’s side: Himuka cultist Enoki Masamichi, leader of the bird-people. It was he who had picked the especially talented young people out of the Himuka faithful and formed a subgroup to perform tasks separate from those of the main religious organization.
“Protector,” the members who had come out of the cottage to meet Enoki greeted him, Saeki Ryouko at their head. She presented him an umbrella.
“Welcome back.”
“The snow has gotten pretty bad. We’ll need chains soon. ...Yasuo,” Enoki addressed a young man, the youngest among them. “Put on the chains, will you? I can never install them properly, probably because I’m so unused to them. You’ll be okay if I leave the cars to you?”
“Yes!” young Yasuo replied very earnestly and seemed about to go off on his assigned task at once.
Enoki smiled wryly. “Later is fine. There’s something I want to report first, which you should hear as well. ... Saeki, where is Motoharu-sama?”
“Waiting inside.”
“Let’s go.”
All the members answered in the affirmative and followed after Enoki. They called themselves the Himuka Bird-people Flock and totaled nine members, including their leader Enoki. Their ages ranged from 18 to 31, with most in their twenties. Though each of them had awoken only recently to the flock, all faces bore the pride and confidence of being one of the chosen.
The followed ‘New Faith-Protector’ Enoki into the lodge.
“]]Kihachi]]’s head is gone?” Kikkawa Motoharu replied when he heard the news, his expression grim. “What do you mean? Was it not at Aso Shrine?”
Everyone was gathered in the hall on the first floor with its large fireplace. Motoharu was seated on the sofa. Enoki responded, “Records say that in the sixth year of Jougan (864), Kihachi’s head was moved from Frost Shrine to Aso Shrine when the volcano erupted. But it is clear from our investigation that such an object does not currently reside at Aso Shrine.”
He had, with the help of an associate university professor of his acquaintance, conducted a search of the shrine’s treasures for a purported research project. They had been unable to confirm the existence of the head from interviews of those connected with the shrine.
“The record was mistaken, then?”
“The account is from a Miike document.” Enoki’s long single-lidded eyes glinted. “I do not think it would be mistaken about something connected to Kihachi.”
“Then where do you think it is?”
Aso Shrine’s records never mentioned Kihachi’s head by name. Enoki believed the lack of records meant the object was kept as a secret offering and had investigated further. Using the fact that the offering had been made in the twelfth month of the sixth year of Jougan, he had examined various records pertaining to the shrine’s treasures and finally discovered something like the object in question.
“Discovered? So it is there?”
“Yes. It is practically guaranteed to be the treasure given as ‘votive offering in the twelfth month of Jougan six’. But this treasure was carried out of the shrine as a gift four hundred years ago in the fifteenth year of Tenshou (1587).”
Motoharu reacted sharply. The fifteenth year of Tenshou was when Hideyoshi had conquered Kyuushuu.
“Do you know to whom it was presented?”
“Yes. The feudal lord of Higo at that time...” Enoki leaned forward in excitement. “—a commander named Sassa Narimasa.”
“What. Sassa... Sassa Narimasa-dono?!”
Enoki nodded. “But only the fact that the gift was made was recorded, not its current location. Narimasa died a year after he became lord of Higo. Its whereabout after that...”
“You’ve lost the trail then...?” Motoharu sighed deeply, deflating.
Enoki continued. Perhaps Narimasa or the Aso family had private records with further details.
“Hmn. How absurd that Kihachi’s head, so crucial to our efforts, cannot be found,” muttered the slender black-haired man standing behind Motoharu.
“Kousaka-dono.”
“Lofty proclamations about releasing Kihachi’s onryou are meaningless if his head cannot be found. Taking Asara-hime alone will accomplish nothing without the head.”
Kousaka’s haughty tone rather irritated the Himuka cultists. The young man called Yasuo interjected from one side, “The investigation is ongoing! We don’t need you to tell us how important Onpachi-sama’s head is! We’ll find it!”
“Naturally. You were the ones who proposed this plan. ...You want to resurrect Kihachi. We want the power to destroy Ootomo and Oda. Thus we are allied, and have pooled our strength together. We’ve already set a plan in motion to seize the missing Asara-hime and even readied Kihachi’s vessel.” Kousaka smiled cruelly. “You want to restore Himuka as a great power. The sooner you find the head, the sooner you reach your goal.”
The cultists’ hands clenched into fists.
Kousaka looked at them with sardonic eyes, then snorted and gazed at the bright blaze in the fireplace.
“Sassa Narimasa, huh...? Humph, if I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have allowed him to die so quickly.”
“After Sassa Narimasa-dono’s death...?” Motoharu pondered, and then suddenly lifted his head to look at Enoki and the others. “...That man probably knows something.”
“The treasure Aso Shrine presented to Sassa-dono?” Kiyomasa returned Enoki’s gaze guardedly.
“Yes,” Enoki nodded.
If Motoharu’s guess was correct, Narimasa’s successor Kiyomasa probably knew something. As a matter of fact, Kiyomasa himself had lent a great deal of aid towards restoring the Aso family, chief priests of Aso Shrine, which had fallen into ruin during the turbulence of the Sengoku. He had also zealously maintained and repaired devastated wayside shrines and temples.
He had heard about the «Golden Serpent Head» from one of Narimasa’s surviving retainers...
“...” He didn’t immediately respond. He guardedly leaned back in his rocking chair, eyes half-lidded, and sagged a little. He studied Enoki and Saeki’s expressions attentively.
“There is a record of a treasure in the twelfth month of Jougan. You took over Sassa Narimasa’s castle; surely you know of it.”
“I’m not sure I do...” Kiyomasa bent his head a little, feigning ignorance with a completely straight face. “I believe the greater part of Narimasa-dono’s estate was dedicated to his family temple, but I heard nothing of a gift from the Aso family. ...Are you sure it existed?”
“Lying—...” behind Enoki, Saeki Ryouko lightly pointed to her own left chest, “is not in your best interest.”
She was implicitly threatening Kiyomasa with the burning pain of the luminous flame stone buried inside him. But Kiyomasa was not one of Hideyoshi’s Seven Spears for nothing.
“I can do nothing about what I do not know. Even if this object existed, His Excellency the Taikou probably seized it after the ritual suicide. What was this gift presented by Aso-dono anyway?”
“A human skull,” Enoki answered in a low voice.
“Skull?”
“Yes. It was formerly Frost Shrine’s divine body. Despite its human origin, the skull looks like it came from a large serpent. It so resented Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto for cutting it off that it transformed into a serpent-like shape.”
(What?) He silently lifted his eyes.
Kiyomasa knew nothing of this tale.
(Human? It’s not from the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent?)
“The skull is a vast reservoir of hatred,” Enoki explained coldly, slowly walking over the carpet towards him. “Onpachi-sama’s hatred—no, onryou reside within the skull. Its power is said to be such that it can sink Kyuushuu beneath the ocean. There would be no turning back if it ends up in the wrong hands—if it is handled carelessly.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s said that inside this skull is more than just a single person’s hatred.” Enoki’s expression was menacing, like that of a completely different person.
“Shall I tell you the truth, Katou Kiyomasa, of what is entrapped within that skull?”
“Protector...!” Saeki warned.
Enoki’s chin jerked up, and he stopped. The look they exchanged was so deadly serious that nothing could interrupt their silent communion. Kiyomasa tensed internally at the gravity of it.
(I’m sure of it...!)
The ‘human skull’ they spoke of, which Aso Shrine had presented to Sassa Narimasa, was—
(It must be the «Golden Serpent Head».)
The treasure beneath the old castle that Ootomo was also after. Mikuriya and her lot had called it the head of the serpent. They must have taken control of Old Castle High School in order to get their hands on the head of the ‘eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent’.
But what was Enoki talking about? This was the first time he’d heard of it. Didn’t the «Golden Serpent Head» belong to a large serpent that had once lived beneath Aso? Wasn’t it an incarnation of Aso volcano’s magma?
(What are they talking about?)
These people, they had called it Onpachi-sama. The head beheaded by Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto? He’d never heard before that the «Golden Serpent Head» was a human head. He’d interacted with the members of the Aso family, but had never heard such a tale. Had even they not known?
And it supposedly entrapped onryou of terrible power?
(So terrible that it’s capable of sinking Kyuushuu beneath the ocean?)
What kind of monster could that be? One beheaded by Takeiwatatsu-no-mikoto, who had reclaimed Aso from the wastes, apparently.
“...” Kiyomasa gulped, but discreetly, to go unnoticed by his two visitors. How had these people come by knowledge that neither he, nor Sassa Narimasa, nor Ootomo knew...?
(What are they planning?)
He had no idea. People of the modern age who were allied with Mouri and could fly. Who were they? What was Kikkawa Motoharu’s real aim?
(Fine...) Though Kiyomasa’s expression revealed nothing, he had come to a decision. He abruptly stood. “Though the object you speak of seems quite extraordinary, I know nothing of it. If it is so important to you, betake yourselves to Toyokuni Shrine and inquire of His Excellency the Taikou directly.”
“...You really don’t know anything?”
“Tiresome dolts! To whom do you speak? I am the divinity of Katou Shrine. Would a god lie?!”
“...”
“How dare you take such tones? If you would confine a god, at least present me with my offerings. What tasteless fellows. If you must be so absurd as to fly in the air, keep it to the women; I have never yet heard of a male celestial maiden. And my tea’s gone cold while you were blathering on. Bring me another cup, if you please. And teacakes while you’re at it.”
Enoki and Saeki looked at each other.
“Does this place not have hot springs? I have not bathed since yesterday; my skin is crawling. I love cleanliness! I don’t eat meat! My soup must have nameko [mushroom]! Are you listening to me?!”
(What nerve...) At last, exasperated by Kiyomasa’s demands, Enoki gave a few instructions to Saeki and left the room.
Saeki looked annoyed by the fussy nobleman, but nevertheless fetched the coffee pot and poured him a new cup.
Kiyomasa waited until she had finished pouring. Saeki seemed not at all wary of him, perhaps due to the implanted luminous flame stone. She poured carefully.
“There,” she said curtly. Kiyomasa returned to his chair, slowly picked up the cup, and examined her openly and rudely. The blatant evaluation of her figure offended Ryouko, who glared back. Kiyomasa deliberately smiled a lewd smile.
“...You’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”
“What?!” Ryouko said. Kiyomasa examined her countenance with even greater focus.
“I thought you were the woman of that fellow Enoki, but that appears not to be the case. What a waste for such a pretty woman. Why not be my woman?”
“!” Ryouko goggled. A sharp pain ran through the left side of Kiyomasa’s chest. The luminous flame stone suddenly blazed with heat.
He inhaled sharply.
As his body jerked upright, the coffee cup fell out of his hand, spilling hot liquid all over Kiyomasa’s thighs.
“Ah...! That’s hot! Ow ow ow!”
He sprang up and jumped around, screaming from the scalding burn. Startled, Ryouko hurriedly picked up the towel next to her.
“Are-are you all right?!” As she tried to wipe him dry— “!”
Kiyomasa grasped Ryouko’s hand tightly. Surprised, Ryouko lifted her head. Her eyes met Kiyomasa’s directly. Kiyomasa’s eyes were red in a demon-like face, and he glared piercingly into her. Ryouko froze at this complete alteration, suddenly afraid.
“Ah—...”
Kiyomasa gripped her right hand.
At that moment, in those few seconds—
“...!”
Ryouko quickly regained her senses and realized that Kiyomasa was holding her hand. She slapped him hard.
“!”
Kiyomasa released her, breathing hard. Ryouko thrust him violently away, enraged. “Have you no shame!” she shouted, throwing the towel violently at him. She stomped out of the room.
Kiyomasa stared aghast at the door through which she had gone out, seemingly unaware of the pain in his cheek. He sat back down.
His contact mind-reading had allowed him to pilfer an enormous amount of information from Saeki Ryouko in just a few seconds—more, in fact, than Kiyomasa himself had anticipated. The information far exceeded his expectation in its fearsome, absolutely secret nature.
(Inconceivable...!) Kiyomasa stared, not even breathing.
His heart pounded loudly with the tempestuous and terrible information that had streamed into his head. Neither Ootomo nor Sassa could have known. Even the Aso family, which had possessed the skull, couldn’t have known...!
The enormity of it had stolen his voice.
(How could it be...) Kiyomasa went deathly pale. His fists shook. The impulse to scream was overwhelming. (How could such a thing be...?!)
He had to inform his lord, Nobunaga, right now. The true nature of the «Golden Serpent Head» was nothing so simple as the eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent of legend. If Shimazu obtained such a thing, they would be in serious trouble! The whole of Japan, to say nothing of Kyuushuu...!
Could face destruction...!
(That must not happen!) Kiyomasa yelled inside his own mind. (I must inform Lord Nobunaga with the utmost dispatch!)
The red blazing heart of the logs in the fireplace crumbled with a thump. Briefly the flames wavered in extravagant motion, and against the wall the table’s shadow swayed with them.
The fireplace brightly illuminated Takaya’s profile. He was sitting up in bed, and had done so under his own power thanks to the healing of the luminous flame stone. Yet for some time now he had looked strange. His gaze was fixed unmovingly on a single point as he brooded.
He was motionless, his hands against his face. Only his eyes glinted through the crack between his fingers.
(What is this feeling...?) he moaned in his own mind, eyes wide, panting through a choked throat. (What is this fear?)
Gritting his teeth, Takaya desperately battled his own psyche. There was a monster standing in the way of his memories. Takaya probed tooth and nail into a self that was unable to approach his memories of the events at Hagi, even though they were certainly there.
He’d never even noticed until now. He’d unconsciously bypassed them without recognizing that anything was amiss. Why...?
(I’m afraid...!)
The closer he drew to those memories, the more his fear strengthened and loomed. He was choking, covered with sweat. Though overcome by terror, he desperately withstood the urge to scream and run madly away. He struggled forward with all his might.
“Naoe was shot.”
“A tornado of fire destroyed Hagi Castle...”
(I... can’t...)
He shut his eyes tightly, hands pressed against his head. In pain he shook it again and again.
(I can’t...remember...!)
Rairyuu’s facial scar. He was the one who’d burned it? He’d destroyed Hagi Castle? Shot by a gun? He couldn’t remember. When he tried, the pressure rose until he couldn’t breathe. Naoe had been with him all that time. And afterwards, they’d fought together on Itsuku Island...
(Where was he?)
He shivered, a chill running down his spine.
(Where was Naoe after that?)
The deep sense of unease loomed. What had Takaya himself done after Hagi? He asked determinedly, choking down the fear. He’d fought at the naval castle, but what had he been doing up until then?
How had he gotten there? How?
(I don’t know!)
Takaya bit his lip, repeatedly shaking his head.
(I can’t...remember...!)
“You have the power to see.”
(Is this what I have to see?)
Takaya panted wildly, hands sliding away.
(Is this it, Kaizaki?!)
The taste of blood filled his mouth from a cut on his lip. He swiped at it in surprise, and as he saw his fingertip, he jolted! Takaya jerked wildly.
“Aa...aah...!”
The monster resonated with the sight of the fresh blood. His heart squeezed with an even denser fear. Takaya tensed all over. His fists clenched in the sheets as he violently panted for help.
(No! I have to look...!)
He desperately opened his eyes.
(I have to see!)
What he wanted to know lay ahead. He could sense it even if he couldn’t see it. He mustn’t look away. Takaya hardened his gaze and glared into midair even as he trembled.
(Don’t run away...!)
A pressure so great it was driving him insane. A killing dread. The answer he must grasp was just ahead. He mustn’t retreat. He had to look.
With gritted teeth Takaya continued to battle alone.
No one could aid him in this battle.
How many hours had passed?
Snow continued to fall in the forest. It had grown very dark outside.
Flames in the fireplace danced against the window glass. The fire flickered, illuminating Takaya’s profile with an orange light. A shadow gazed at it from the room’s entrance.
It was Kikkawa Motoharu.
How long had he stood there? Motoharu continued to stare at Takaya with narrowed eyes.
(A frightful countenance...)
Takaya was haggard with his thoughts. He had the languishing look of a neurotic patient, his eyes fixed on a single point with the motionlessness of a statue. Only in the depth of his eyes was there a terrible glitter, that seemed capable of killing anyone who dared approach carelessly.
It doesn’t look human, Motoharu thought. Even a wild beast’s eyes would be mild by comparison. It was bloodcurdling— But even that was insufficient to describe that expression.
Takaya suddenly lifted his head as if sensing his presence.
He looked murderous.
(It’s overwhelming...)
A demon in human guise, Motoharu thought, taking a deep breath as if preparing to meet his fate. He approached.
“Here’s your school uniform. It’s been cleaned.”
He laid it to one side. Takaya was on his guard. He was filled with a terrible tension. He glared at Motoharu as if ready to sink his teeth into him at any moment. He was a totally different person than when he had just woken up. The menace in his eyes was even stronger than it had been in Hagi. Even the eyes of a starving beast were milder.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he tore out my throat.
Motoharu steeled himself and sat down in a chair.
“How do you feel? A little better?”
“...” Takaya didn’t answer. But his eyes said more than his mouth.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes. I am not your enemy. I only came to see how you were. The condition of your wounds.”
Takaya was silent. The spitting image of a wounded tiger.
That suffocating vigilance told of how close to the edge he had been driven after their conversation. He had been engaged with confronting the aberration within himself all this while. It was nothing so simple as frayed nerves. He seemed to respond to Motoharu’s every word and action with prickly menace.
Motoharu was slowly growing to understand Kagetora’s disposition. Just a short time ago he would have taken this threat at face value, been overwhelmed and flinched back...
Kagetora’s true feelings always ran counter to how he behaved. He was most belligerent when terrified.
“...”
He could understand Naoe’s feelings, Motoharu thought, exhaling quietly.
“I have always wanted to speak with you again.”
Takaya’s eyes didn’t soften at all.
Motoharu held his gaze.
“Neither of us were quite calm back then. I couldn’t truly understand you. If I said too much, I apologize,” Motoharu said sincerely. “May I speak of that time?”
“...”
Takaya had not relaxed at all from his painful vigilance. His lips were compressed tightly, and a challenging light glittered in his eyes. After a small pause, Motoharu began to speak.
“I lost my younger brother Takakage and nephew Terumoto in that battle. All my retainers died noble deaths in the Aki sea. You could very well say that Mouri was destroyed in that naval battle.”
‘The dead have gone to their rightful destinations, that is all’—is perhaps what you would say, but...
“But I was blessed to be able to have even a little more time with Takakage.”
“...”
“I learned that the bond between the two rivers was never severed,” Motoharu said, recalling his own final years.
After the death of their father Motonari, the Two Rivers of the Mouri had not always gotten along. Takakage had been the most brilliant among his brothers, excelling both in statesmanship and strategy. Among the Mouri almost all the most valiant and important victories were won by Takakage. Neither was he lacking in personal virtue. ...That was why their father Motonari had had both great confidence in and great expectations of him, and had entrusted Terumoto to Takakage’s care.
His was an existence that blossomed extraordinarily in every respect.
He had been chosen to be one of the Five Elders of Toyotomi’s administration. That was when the paths of the Two Rivers had diverged. Takakage had ridden the era’s zeitgeist and of his own volition formed an intimacy with Hideyoshi, thereafter steadily consolidating his power at Hideyoshi’s side. But fighting under that banner had not suited Motoharu, and he had chosen to retire and allow his son to take his place.
Motoharu had recognized a dark chord inside himself. He’d known for a long time that their father had expected more of Takakage, had loved him more. Motoharu had always felt himself somehow shrink in front of Takakage. He’d been resigned, had accepted his backseat role, had intended to be satisfied with his role; but the gulf between him and his brother had grown so great that Motoharu had begun to fear they could no longer fight together.
“The Two Rivers of the Mouri lost their shape after our father’s death...”
Takaya listened silently.
Motoharu smiled.
“I know, Takakage did nothing wrong. I grew an inferiority complex all on my own—sulked, distanced myself. Takakage was only living according to his strengths. He was right to do so.”
“...”
“He was right...and that was what made it so intolerable,” Motoharu said, shutting his eyes.
Takaya was silent.
But he never hated Takakage. In fact, when he lost the «Yami-Sengoku»-resurrected Takakage at the naval castle, he had hated Kagetora with all his heart. The once-lost Two Rivers had, even for a little time, been able to carry out their mission. Both of them had reaffirmed that the bond between their hearts had never been completely broken. Their resurrections had not been meaningless.
“And so...” Motoharu continued, “I feel as if I can understand Naoe’s feelings towards you.”
Takaya’s eyes softened the tiniest bit.
Not just Naoe, but Lady Tomo’s feelings as well.
Despite his sense of inferiority, he had never hated the one who had roused it in him.
To the contrary...that person had been precious to him—and that was what had made it unbearable.
“Those feelings in Tomo-hime sometimes burst past her limits. In Naoe’s case, those two sentiments were perhaps too finely purified into their conflicting essences.”
And then tragedy had struck.
They had driven each other into a hopeless corner.
What of Motoharu himself...?
“...”
He had fallen quiet, but Takaya continued to gaze at him. Takaya said nothing. It suddenly occurred to Motoharu that he had no understanding of something so beyond endurance. That was when he saw Takaya’s visage overlaid on top of his brother Takakage’s, and a mysterious fondness welled up inside him.
“I...Kagetora-dono.” Motoharu returned Takaya’s gaze directly. “This may be presumptuous of me to say, but in time I began to identify with Naoe. I regarded him as one who felt as I did, but with greater intensity and purity. And I wanted to see how far the two of you would go.”
No, ‘wanted to see’ wasn’t quite right...
Even if their end was intolerably repulsive, he didn’t want to look away.
In truth, Kagetora at Hagi Castle had been awe-inducing rather than repulsive or disgusting.
He’d said that all of Naoe belonged to him.
Motoharu recalled it clearly. He’d said that the man belonged to him completely. He alone had the right to decide whether Naoe lived or died. His memory...his history. He would allow no one else to touch him. Only his truth was needed. Kagetora had shouted the words with eyes that had looked mad.
He truly was mad, Motoharu thought. It was nothing so innocent as possessiveness or even the embodiment of it. He was a monster of possessiveness. To have been shown such a thing was maddening. What had horrified Motoharu had been that naked obsession.
People must not need so much. Not other people.
To want someone to need only you, intensely and for eternity, was...
Many people probably had similar desires to a greater or lesser extent. But they didn’t truly ask for such a thing— because everyone knew it was dangerous. Because if you could not obtain it, then your relationship to your destroyer would collapse. You lived your life skillfully taming such desires with reason, training yourself to not want more, using every trick in the book. Those who achieved such skill were called mature human beings.
“Do not misunderstand. This is not censure of you,” Motoharu quietly reassured the silent Takaya. “I was overwhelmed by your statement. Afterwards, thinking over what Naoe said, I acknowledge a single mistake. You are not unwise, only sincere. Good rapport requires earnestness from both parties. It is potent. You are very easy to revile. But I am overwhelmed by your strength, which is not intimidated by the purity of your emotions.”
“...”
“Perhaps it is your unnatural four hundred years that has made it so. But, Kagetora-dono...” Motoharu said, looking straight into Takaya’s eyes, “the fire with which you destroyed Hagi Castle—I believe I saw the true hell of people’s hearts within those flames.”
Takaya looked pained.
Motoharu gazed steadily at him.
He saw the sense of uneasiness and impatience return. Takaya looked down for a moment before finally...
“Do you...think I’m running away?”
It was the first time he had spoken.
Motoharu’s eyes widened.
“If what you say is correct, then does it mean I’m running away from reality?”
“Kagetora-dono.”
“Is that what you’re saying, Kikkawa Motoharu?”
Motoharu pressed his lips in a tight line, caught.
Takaya’s sharp gaze was fixed unwaveringly on Motoharu. Motoharu steeled himself once more in the face of this gravitas.
Without looking away, he nodded firmly.
Takaya’s eyes narrowed in pain. “...Then Naoe...?”
“...”
“What happened to Naoe?”
Motoharu’s expression turned hard. Takaya awaited his answer with distress. Motoharu told him unsparingly, “Can you not remember on your own, Kagetora-dono?”
“!” Takaya’s head jerked up as if pricked.
The thin line of Motoharu’s mouth loosened a little. Then he abruptly reached out and cupped Takaya’s cheeks with both large hands in an almost paternal fashion.
Takaya’s eyes widened.
“Listen well, Kagetora-dono.” He held Takaya’s gaze. “Naoe died that night.”
“...” Takaya stared at Motoharu, unblinking and motionless. There was no reproach in Motoharu’s tone; he was simply giving Takaya information.
“You must have realized this, if vaguely. It is the reason you cannot remember the events at Hagi and the true source of the fear in your heart.”
Takaya’s face froze as if he had struck a chord.
“You’ve been thinking about it all this while, haven’t you? That’s why you have such a pinched look on your face.”
Motoharu had seen through to the fact that Takaya had begun to doubt himself.
He was beginning to distrust himself. Could he have confidence in what he believed to be true? Or had it been fundamentally been infected with a lie?
Why was he so uneasy?
Takaya had been thinking since arriving here. Probing into the true cause of the surfacing strangeness which had caused him so much uneasiness since meeting Motoharu again. The unending circle of thoughts he’d experienced since meeting Kaizaki had appeared as well, exhausting him. That was what Motoharu had sensed from Takaya.
“It’s painful to be lost in a maze, isn’t it?” Motoharu said in low tones. “If you don’t extricate yourself, you continue to reject the answer that’s right in front of you.”
Takaya slowly shook his head from side to side. “Naoe...is at my side.”
“You think it’s Naoe, but it’s another person altogether. ...The shock of losing him...”
Takaya shook his head again.
“...Kagetora-dono.”
“That’s not true... Naoe has been with me all this while. For these past two years.”
“For this,” Motoharu peered quietly at Takaya’s face, “have you not borne many wounds you would otherwise not have taken?”
A small tear slid out of Takaya’s wide eyes and down his cheek.
“No...”
“Did you not wish to know the truth? To break out of the maze? Kagetora-dono.”
“No...!” Takaya shouted, pushed past his limits. “An answer like that is not an exit! I’m not trying to escape from reality! I’ve accepted even the fact that he’s lost interest in me...! I’m not listening to you!”
“I know you don’t want to see. But that’s precisely why your nightmare won’t end! Don’t you understand the crime you’re committing?! The true Naoe would never deny your pain; wouldn’t it hurt him too if you were hurt so badly?! Can you imagine how Naoe would feel were you to mistake the conduct of an imitation for the true him? There is nothing sadder; I’d rise from my grave! I don’t think you had self-interest in mind when you drove yourself mad, but so long as you continue, you’re betraying Naoe over and over again!”
“Shut up!”
“Listen to me, Kagetora-dono! All of this was brought about by your dependency. Your loneliness is something that must be borne by every living thing when it comes into the world. It is rooted in existence itself. You cannot escape it. Is escape not a lack of self-reliance? Tell me I’m wrong!”
“No! Stop it!”
“Kagetora-dono!”
“You’re always saying nonsensical things to lead me astray. Naoe was never going to join you! He died in my...!”
Motoharu caught his breath. Takaya stiffened, a hand moving softly to his lips.
“He died...in my—...”
“Kagetora-dono...!”
Takaya muttered hoarsely, eyes as wide as they would go. The image of those flames grew steadily clearer. Slowly the memories revived in his mind. Yes, these memories, Takaya thought. Memories of that time.
“Ah... aaa...aaaah!”
“Kagetora-dono!”
“Aaaah!”
“You mustn’t be deceived any longer, Kagetora-dono!”
“!” Motoharu reflexively turned to the sharp voice behind him. He hadn’t noticed the man entering. He was looking over at them, leaning against a wall. Motoharu shouted, “Kousaka-dono!”
“Kousaka...!” Takaya blurted out, face stiffening. “You...”
“It’s been a while, Kagetora-dono,” Kousaka Danjou replied in a low voice, his shapely and beguiling lips lifting.
Takaya came back to himself, filled with wariness once more. “You’re alive, then...?!”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you. I longed for your lovely face so much I’ve returned from the underworld. Can’t you be a little happier to see me?” Takaya only bared his teeth and glared. Kousaka looked fondly back at him. “...Heh! A cowardly tiger, as always. And you, Motoharu-dono, are being quite naughty. You mustn’t tell Kagetora-dono lies, you know.”
“Lies?!” Motoharu retorted sharply.
Kousaka slowly smiled and nodded. “Oh yes. No matter how tender-hearted you are, Motoharu-dono, you must not tell lies. That Naoe is dead, for example.”
“Wh...!” Takaya looked at Kousaka, stunned. “What...did you just...”
“Everything Motoharu-dono has told you is a lie, Kagetora-dono. You mustn’t believe him.” Motoharu didn’t know what Kousaka meant. A flash of Kousaka’s sharp gaze stopped his rebuttal. “Motoharu-dono, such clumsy falsehoods are no consolation. Your impulse to say that Naoe is dead out of your concern for Kagetora-dono is quite reasonable, but under these circumstances, to not know is the greater misfortune. You should tell him the plain truth, Motoharu-dono.”
“Kou...saka-dono... ...?”
Kousaka gave Motoharu an incomprehensible glance before focusing again on a shaken Takaya. He approached slowly and said in a pitying tone, “Naoe... has sold you out, Kagetora-dono.”